Man who escaped the Mandera Massacre dies after quarry caves in

Nyeri, Kenya: Tragedy struck Kiganjo village in Kieni East after a man died when a quarry he was working in caved in burying him alive on Wednesday.

Joseph Githenji Gamine, 41 who recently returned from Mandera where he had been working after the 18 quarry workers were butchered, was in the company of two others excavating building stones at Gakindu quarry site, when tragedy struck at around three o'clock.

"The three of us were busy digging in our pit, when suddenly we had a loud thud and on looking up I saw a large chunk of sand coming down, I don't know what else happened in between but my right arm has been hurt and some bruises on my face, "said Kinyua, 30 who was lucky after being rescued by his colleagues from a nearby pit.

Kieni East O. C. P. D. Ancent Kaloki who was at the scene to oversee the rescue efforts said, "The deceased was in the company of two others, one escaped with no injuries, whereas the third person was injured slightly on his face and right arm and has been rushed to Kiganjo Health Center for treatment, this area has been experiencing heavy rains in the recent past making the sand lining of the quarries boggy, and that is what we suspect might have caused the sand to cave in".

Most youth and elderly men in the area work in quarries, with over ten quarries within Kieni East alone, which supplies a bulk of the construction stones within Nyeri and its neighboring counties because the area is agriculturally viable.

The body was later recovered and moved to the Nyeri Provincial General Hospital Mortuary.