Two young siblings have died after a trench collapsed on them at Ndogo Primary School in Gilgil Sub-County, Nakuru County.

The tragedy claimed the lives of a nine-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister, who were playing in an area of the school compound along a waterway when the ground gave way, burying them.

Gilgil Sub-County Police Commander Winston Mwakio confirmed the deaths, saying the children were rushed to the hospital after the incident but did not survive.

“Unfortunately, they died,” Commander Mwakio says, adding that authorities were informed only after the children had already been transported to hospital.

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Photo credit: LELETI JASSOR / MTAA WANGU

According to him, the area where the collapse occurred is an open, unsecured waterway that had not been fenced off despite the hazard it presented.

A witness, Kigutu, says the trench had formed during heavy rains last year and had been gradually eroding. Though the county government had visited the site and promised to cover it, no action was taken.

“The children accessed the school through the fence and were in the company of about a dozen others,” Kigutu says, adding that one child had gone into the 100-metre-long trench while two others stood on the surface as the rest played nearby.

During their play, the soil caved in, completely burying the child in the trench, covering a second child, and partially burying a third up to the waist.

Community members try and save children who soul had covered while playing on April 10

Photo credit: LELETI JASSOR/MTAA WANGU

The other children ran to alert nearby adults, who managed to rescue one child. One sibling died at the scene and the other on the way to Gilgil Sub-County Hospital.

The incident has raised anger and urgent questions among community members over the county government's failure to act on earlier warnings about the dangerous trench.

Two siblings killed in Gilgil trench tragedy

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Leleti Jassor