News
Two university students fall into river and drown while taking photographs
Two university students have died after they fell into a river while taking photographs.
Ms Sharlet Atieno and Mr Derick Ouka went out on Saturday to Siaya town in Kenya for a photo shoot on the bank of River Yala together with two other friends.
While there, Ms Atieno, a first-year student at Bondo Technical Training Institute, posed for photos on the rocks as Mr Ouka, a second-year student at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, snapped pictures of her. Suddenly, Ms Atieno slipped and fell into the river.
At first, her friends thought it was a prank and they burst out laughing. When she didn’t surface, Mr Ouka dived in to rescue her but he drowned too.
The two friends with them, Ms Beatrice Stephanie Atieno, a Kabianga University student, and Steven Omondi tried to save the pair all to no avail.
Steven Omondi who witnessed the incident said:
I jumped into the river too and got hold of Sharlet but she slipped and disappeared.
The search for the two bodies, which began on Saturday afternoon, was still going on as at Monday evening.
Mr Ouka’s mother, Jacinta Adhiambo was taken to Avenue Hospital in Kisumu when she fainted after receiving the news of the drowning.
