The body of a 42-year-old businessman who drowned ten days ago after his car plunged into River Sagana was retrieved on Saturday evening.
The body of Samuel Kamau Kagwanja commonly known as Chakaka was found one-kilometer ways into the deep river at 11 pm on May 9.
On Saturday a multi-agency team comprising officers from the National Disaster Operation Committee, the defense forces disaster response battalion, the police, and officers from the Ministry of Interior camped along the river to search for the body.
According to reports, thr body was found along a river bank near Mijini slums of Sagana town but the rescue team could not retrieve the ill-fated vehicle.
For the past seven days, the rescue mission faced challenges posed by raging waters, with divers estimating the river depth at 60 feet.
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Murang’a County disaster management officer Bilha Wanjiku said since Sunday, they have been trying to search for the body but in vain.
One of the deceased’s friends, Njoroge Mwangi, observed that he was in communication with Kamau prior to the accident.
“I was waiting for him at Sagana town and we were talking through the phone but the last word I heard from him was a cry for help. This prompted me to go to the Roibon hotel which is at the side of Murang’a where I was informed, he had already left towards Sagana. This made me suspect he had plunged in the river. I informed his family and the mission to search for him commenced,” lamented Mwangi.
Further, Wanjiku said when a rescue team from the Kenya Navy arrived last Tuesday, the divers could not do much due to the high speed of the flowing water.
“The river is deep and there were heavy currents which hindered divers from getting to the bottom of the river.”
Some of the leaders at the scene cast doubts on the finding of the vehicle, saying that several vehicles that have plunged into the river in the past have never been found.
