Three survivors of a tragic Saturday incident in Ruiru that killed six people have spoken to the media for the first time since the tragedy, revealing how they were rescued from a well after a concrete slab collapsed.
Seventeen people who were part of a wedding entourage are said to have fallen into the well.
Rebbeca Macharia, one of those rescued from the well, describes being dragged into the well by someone grabbing at support after the concrete slab caved in.
“Mimi nilikuwa rafiki ya mama mwenye tulikuwa tunapeleka… ni kijana yake alikuwa anaenda kuoa,” Rebbeca told Citizen.Digital from Kiahiti village in Gakoe. “Safari ilikuwa sawa lakini wakati tulifika huko… mimi nilikuwa nimesimama kando, ni mtu alinivuruta kwa shimo,”
Rebecca told Citizen.Digital that she found herself inside the well, on top of people and then realised she had landed on a child. She claims she hoisted the child onto a thrown-in makeshift ladder and saved both herself and the child.
Another survivor, Leah Wangeci, stated that after the well caved in, those who fell in did everything they could to save themselves from drowning. She claims that she managed to grab a piece of wire, but that several others trying to grab anything in sight dragged her into the well.
“Wakati tulikwa tunajaribu kujitoa mimi nilipanda na nilishika wire lakini watu wengine wakanishikilia niwaokoe, nikavurutwa chini nikaingia kwa maji nikakunywa maji lakini niliweza kusurvive,” Wangeci said.
“I’m thankful to God, mimi nilikuwa nimeona nimedrown, lakini nashukuru mungu kwa kunipatia chance ingine,”
According to a Kiambu Police Spokesperson, a group of people made a stopover at a friend’s house on Saturday to make merry when about 17 of them fell into a well after the slab collapsed.
The police say the well must have collapsed due to the weight of the people standing on top of it.
A rescue operation led by the Ruiru fire brigade and officers from Kihunguro police station commenced afterwards, and 11 people were retrieved including two children.
