A 37-year-old man escaped death narrowly on Wednesday after being buried alive while harvesting sand in Lumakanda stream at Mwamba area in Lugari Sub County.
The area Assistant Chief, Edwin Nashirobe said Daniel Shilabu has been excavating soil in the bank of the stream before removing sand from it, thus creating a big hole that made the bank to cave in.
The administrator said the residents quickly intervened by digging and removing him from the soil and rushed him to Lumakanda county hospital where he received treatment.
“He was shortly thereafter transferred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret for specialized treatment for a broken spinal cord and other internal injuries,” he explained.
The Chief has issued a stern warning to the residents against the illegal sand harvesting activities going on in various streams and rivers in the area, stating that anybody found would be prosecuted.
“We are not stopping the normal sand harvesting but this habit of excavating in the banks of streams and rivers is life threatening and also an environmental hazard,” he said.
By Sammy Mwibanda
