Three contracted sanitation workers, among them a father and his son, have died after drowning inside a septic tank at Makindu Boys High School in Makindu, Makueni County, in a tragedy that has raised urgent questions about workplace safety and institutional accountability.
The three men had been hired to drain sewage from the school’s septic system when the incident occurred on Thursday, May 28. According to preliminary reports, the workers lost consciousness inside the confined tank due to insufficient oxygen before drowning in the effluent below. Help arrived too late to save any of them.
Emergency response teams from the Makueni County disaster management unit, working alongside Kenya Red Cross officials, were deployed to the school following the distress call. Recovery efforts lasted several hours before all three bodies were retrieved from the tank and transferred to a nearby hospital mortuary for preservation.
Police have since launched an investigation into the incident, with officers expected to establish whether the workers had the necessary protective gear, whether atmospheric safety checks were carried out before anyone entered the tank, and whether the school administration followed the required safety protocols when hiring and deploying the contractors.
The tragedy points to a wider and largely ignored problem. Workers contracted to carry out hazardous manual labour in confined spaces — such as septic tanks, wells, and underground chambers — frequently do so without proper breathing apparatus, emergency extraction equipment, or any form of safety briefing. The gases produced by decomposing organic matter inside such tanks, including hydrogen sulfide and methane, can cause rapid unconsciousness within seconds of exposure, leaving a person with no chance of self-rescue.
The loss of a father and son in the same incident makes the tragedy particularly devastating for their family, and for a community already absorbing difficult news. The incident unfolded on the same day that Kenya was mourning 16 students killed in a dormitory fire at Utumishi Girls High School in Nakuru County, adding to what has been one of the most tragic days the country has witnessed in recent memory.
As investigations continue, authorities must go beyond determining individual fault and confront the systemic failures that continue to put informal workers in lethal situations — with no safety net, no proper equipment, and no one held accountable when things go wrong.
