The relatives of the seven persons who died last Saturday during a wedding ceremony in Ruiru when an underground water reservoir collapsed are requesting financial assistance to bury their loved ones.
They did so while representatives from Kiambu County, including Governor Kimani Wamatangi, local MP Simon King’ara, and Kiambu Woman Representative Ann Wamuratha, gave more than Ksh600,000 to help with funeral costs.
Witnesses said that when the covered reservoir’s slab collapsed, more than 30 people who had gone to pick up the bride were dancing on top of it.
Six persons passed away that day, two of them immediately and the others while receiving medical care. One additional victim died later in the hospital, bringing the total number of fatalities to seven.
During prayers for the families of four of the deceased on Wednesday at Fort Jesus estate in Ruiru’s Biashara ward, relatives claimed some will be interred in distant locations while others felt the burial costs were too much for them to bear.
The relatives of the seven persons who died last Saturday during a wedding ceremony in Ruiru when an underground water reservoir collapsed are requesting financial assistance to bury their loved ones.
They did so while representatives from Kiambu County, including Governor Kimani Wamatangi, local MP Simon King’ara, and Kiambu Woman Representative Ann Wamuratha, gave more than Ksh600,000 to help with funeral costs.
“It is sad that a day of joy when women were singing and celebrating the wedding turned tragic and mournful. We shall stand with the families and help them overcome the grief by offering prayers and financial support,” Wamatangi said.
Wamatangi gave Sh350,000, King’ara Sh150,000, and Wamuratha Sh50,000, respectively. The National Assembly Leader of Majority and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah also sent a $100,000 gift.
The catastrophe, which left more than 20 people hurt, was a major setback, according to the governor, coming months after several other individuals lost their lives as a result of structures collapsing in other parts of the county.
King’ara said out of the 32 people who fell into the underground water storage, at least 27 were pulled out alive and hailed locals who bravely rescued the victims with bare hands as a fire engine could not access the scene.