A five-year-old girl drowned in an open borehole in Katikoni village, Katyethoka area, Kitui Central Sub-County, Kitui County.

The child reportedly drowned on October 25, 2026, at around 6pm while fetching water for domestic use.

The girl’s mother had sent her daughter to fetch water for washing.

Concerned when the child took longer than expected to return, she went to look for her but found the girl’s slippers and a five-liter jerrycan floating in the water.

She raised the alarm, prompting neighbours to respond. They later discovered the child’s body floating in the borehole.

Police officers who visited the scene in Katikoni village found that the child’s body had already been retrieved from the open borehole, which was approximately three meters in diameter and between four and five feet deep.

The scene was processed before the body was moved to the Kitui County Referral Hospital mortuary for preservation pending a postmortem examination.

The tragedy highlights the dangers posed by uncovered water sources, particularly to young children.

And police in Siaya County are investigating the discovery of an unidentified woman’s body along the banks of River Nzoia in Wang’chieng area.

The body, believed to be that of a woman aged between 25 and 30 years, was discovered on Sunday, October 25, 2026, at around 6:15pm.

Police found the partially decomposed body floating along the riverbank. Preliminary examination revealed no visible physical injuries.

Initial inquiries indicated that the woman was unknown to residents in the area, and no missing-person report had been filed locally at the time of the discovery.

Police suspect the woman may have drowned upstream, with her body subsequently carried downstream by the swollen river amid persistent rainfall in the region. However, the circumstances surrounding her death have not been established.

Officers, assisted by members of the public, retrieved the body from the flooded river.

Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) personnel from Siaya processed and documented the scene before the body was moved to Siaya County Referral Hospital mortuary, where it is being preserved pending a postmortem examination.

Police investigations are ongoing to establish the woman’s identity and determine the circumstances of her death.