A family in Kapsabet is in a state of mourning after two of their sons died in a sewerage manhole.
The shocking Monday afternoon tragedy struck the brothers at Chepnyango village along the Kapsabet-Chavakali highway near Kamobo in the outskirts of Kapsabet town.
The duo, Davis Sang, 42 and Weldon Sang, 34, met their deaths at an underground sewer line in Kamobo estate while trying to unblock it.
They had been hired by a plot owner to unblock the sewerage at a 5-metres below the surface.
Nandi county police commander Dickens Njogu while confirming the incident revealed that Davis, the elder brother was the first to die in the manhole while Weldon died while trying to rescue him.
“Both are suspected to have died of suffocation and lack of oxygen, however an autopsy on the bodies would reveal the true cause of their deaths,” the police commander said.
A neighbour claimed that raw sewer was flowing into their compounds that why the landlord hired casual labourers to unblock it.
The two died in intervals of 3 minutes while a third person refused to enter the manhole after the two went silent.
“They had no protective gears when they scaled down 15 feet and with foul smell there was no way they could survive,” Caro Muhonja, a trader near the scene noted.
Kapsabet fire engines and two ambulances rushed to the scene; however, it was too late as the brothers' bodies were retrieved.
Their bodies were taken to Nandi-Hills level 4 hospital mortuary for preservation as the family waited for answers.
Unlike other urban areas, the Kapsabet Sewerage department is managed by the local municipality instead of Nandi water and Sanitation Company.