Man drowns in quarry as he pursues suspected firewood thief

Rescuers have retrieved the body of a 65-year-old man who drowned in a flooded quarry in Ukuu, Meru County Saturday evening as he pursued a woman he suspected to have stolen his firewood.

The body of Mr Japhet Muriuki was recovered Sunday evening from Gurama quarry after a five-hour operation by the Meru County disaster management response team assisted by locals.

Residents said the man died after he slipped and fell into the quarry which was flooded.

The man was pursuing a woman whom he suspected had stolen the firewood he had gathered earlier in the day when he plunged about 50 metres into the water.

His colleagues said Mr Muriuki had, in a fit of anger, rushed to catch up with the woman while armed with a panga.

FIREWOOD NOT STOLEN

“He saw a woman carrying firewood and he thought it was his and he rushed to intercept her. He missed some steps, slipped and fell,” said one of the miners at the quarry.

It was only after the incident that other workers realised that the man had mistaken the woman for a thief as his pile of firewood was still intact.

The rescue team had to pump water out of the deep quarry, which was half full following heavy rains that pounded the area in December.

The miners and other residents who eke out a living at the expansive mines said many lives have been lost there.

But Mr John Mwenda, a worker, said they are not ready to abandon the dangerous quarry since it is their only source of livelihood.

“We experience such incidents every rainy season. We cannot stop digging the stones because this is where we get our daily bread,” said Mr John Mwenda.