Search on for body of miraa driver swept by raging floods
The Toyota Land Cruiser which was swept by floods on October 30, 2020 along Kinna-Garbatulla road in Isiolo.
A driver who was transporting miraa is feared to have died after being swept away by floods along the Kinna-Garbatulla road following a heavy downpour.
Hussein Kesane, 52, was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser towards Garissa County on Friday night when the incident happened.
He was transporting the miraa from Maua in Meru County and was in the company of Ibrahim Billow when the vehicle plunged into raging waters about a kilometre to Garbatulla town.
As the vehicle got stuck in the flooded channel, the two decided to move to safety but only Mr Billow managed to get out of the floods and later reported the incident at Garbatulla Police Station in Isiolo County.
Police reports indicate that only one of the driver’s shoes and personal documents were recovered at the scene.
Garbatulla Police Commander Alloys Orioki said the search for the body is ongoing along the flood canal and that the joint team has so far covered several kilometres but with no success.
Search for body
The extensive search is being undertaken by security and administration teams and residents with the help of an excavator.
“The search is ongoing and we are hopeful the team will be able to retrieve the body,” said Mr Orioki.
Garbatulla Assistant County Commissioner Charles Jura said they might be forced to request for sniffer dogs as the physical search is proving inadequate.
“If we will not have retrieved the body by Wednesday, we will request for sniffer dogs for a complex search,” Mr Jura told the Nation.
Relatives of the driver have appealed to the police to intensify the search, saying they are losing hope of ever burying their kin.
Mr Orioki told motorists plying the stretch, where flood often occur during rainy seasons, to exercise utmost caution and avoid crossing over raging waters to prevent loss of lives and destruction of property.
