Written By Monica Makali ||
Three people have been confirmed dead while on duty at an oil production company in Athi River, Machakos county.
Athi River South sub-county police commander Mary Njoki said the trio suffocated to death during the Friday 11.00am incident.
“I confirm that three people have died at the company. They were removing slug from a water treatment pit,” Njoki said on phone.
“When they got inside the pit to remove the waste, they suffocated, ” Njoki said.
The police boss faulted the incident on the company management stating that it should take responsibility for the deaths.
The identities of the deceased persons were not revealed since their family members were yet to be informed of the incident.
Njoki said it was against safety precautions for workers to get into the pit and manually clean it.
She said the victims did not have safety gear other than face masks.
“It’s a must you get into the pit with safety masks if you have to,” Njoki said.
The sub-county police boss said the waste should not be removed by hand but rather by a pump.
“I do not know what happened with the pump to make them decide to get into the pit. That is how they ended up suffocating,” she said.
She said the bodies were removed to Machakos Level Five Hospital mortuary awaiting a postmortem.
She confirmef the police arrived at the scene of incident when the bodies had already been removed by the victims’ colleagues.
