This archive report was first published on 8 December 2019.
On December 3, 2019, a devastating flood in Homa Bay County claimed the life of 13-year-old Boaz Odhiambo Ooko. The boy, a pupil at Radienya Primary School, was crossing River Kuja when a boat he boarded capsized due to heavy rainfall.
According to Area Chief Joseph Ogur, the body was recovered seven kilometers away from the scene of the incident, after a five-day search. The body was retrieved from River Kuja on Saturday and taken to Manyatta mortuary in Kobodo for a post mortem.
Five other passengers who were in the boat survived the tragedy. The administrator attributed Ooko's death to his inability to swim when the boat capsized.
Chief Ogur expressed gratitude to the residents for their concerted efforts in retrieving the body, saying, “We have recovered the body and I thank the residents for the concerted efforts they put in retrieving it.”
