Hell breaks lose at Hell's Gate leaving 7 Dead!

A church retreat turned tragic on Sunday when seven people drowned in flash floods at the Hells Gate National Park in Naivasha.

They were part of a group of 35 young men and women from Mukara PCEA in Dagoretti, Nairobi, who had gone for a trip at the park.

The group left Nairobi in the morning and was expected back at 4pm, according to the Rev Nancy Muthoni, the parish minister.

Survivors told the Nation last night that a group of 15 had entered a gorge at the park just before dusk, but were trapped by sudden floods. Guides accompanying the youth group rescued eight.

Kenya Wildlife Service Corporate Affairs Manager Mr Paul Udoto said they had retrieved one body and were searching for the others.

Naivasha police boss Ernest Oponyo asked the Kenya Red Cross to help in the search.

Anxious relatives called the Nation newsroom for details about the tragedy as parents and church leaders left for Naivasha last night fearing for the worst.

Naivasha MP John Mututho blamed KWS, saying the group should have been guided properly.

“They run the park and they know how safe or unsafe it is, we cannot call it bad luck. Someone must be responsible and KWS is to blame,” he said by phone.

Elsewhere, four people died and hundreds were left homeless in flash floods across the country.

Three were killed after a heavy downpour in Gwassi, Homa Bay County at the weekend.

Seven others are missing.

Kenya Red Cross officials and Administration Police recovered three bodies as rains continued in Suba District.

“A search for the seven missing residents of Magunga and Kobar villages is still going on,” a dispatch from the Red Cross said.

In Wiga Valley, East Gwassi, the flood waters swept away houses, crops and livestock, it said.

In Migori, a 12-year-old girl drowned while swimming in River Migori on Saturday.

In Kisii, the heavy rains destroyed five toilets of Ebiosi Secondary School.

“We have been forced to cut short the holiday remedial classes because we cannot operate without toilets,” said the school’s principal, Mr Enock Makori.

Ten killed in floods mayhem *- News*|nation.co.ke

Pole yao

[h=1]Survivors recall last moments before all hell broke loose[/h]Survivors of Sunday's tragedy at Hells Gate National Park on Monday described the scenes from hell they encountered as seven of their colleagues were killed by floods.

They told of deafening noise as the raging water approached the group of 51, darkness and then the race to save their lives after what had started off as an adventure turned tragic.

But they also recounted tales of their lucky escape and return to Nairobi from Naivasha.

For seven families, the trip was a painful one as they identified bodies of their loved ones which had been airlifted to Naivasha District Hospital mortuary.

The meteorological department, meanwhile warned of more flooding as the long rains continue to pound many parts of the country.

The journey which had been expected to be a happy one for the party of teenagers and young adults started at Mukarara PCEA Church in Nairobi's Dagoretti area.

Timothy Waiganjo, one of the survivors, said he thought a helicopter was landing, as the flood waters roared through the gulley at about 3.30pm.

The noise was deafening and most of his church colleagues became confused, he said.

Their guides shouted at them to look for higher ground and in a split second, a river appeared from nowhere carrying soil, tree branches and stones travelling at a ferocious speed towards them.

Waiganjo, 19, says without thinking much, he held onto a rock as the water hit him.

As he clung on the rock, he saw four of his colleagues who were ahead of him being swept away.

"I could have helped them but that means that I could have been swept along with them. The wave was too strong," Waiganjo, a youth member of Presbyterian Church of East Africa in Dagoretti, Nairobi, said.

He said he only let off the rock after about two hours.

At least 50 youths aged between 15 and 26 years from the Nairobi church were visiting the park as part of a bonding mission.

Rough water

Naivasha, where the park is located, is a colonial corruption of the Maasai name Nai'posha, meaning "rough water" caused by afternoon storms.

Before the tragedy, it is reported that it had rained for more than three hours up the cliff where the park is located.

The trip had been arranged by the church under the chairmanship of James Kinyanjui of the youth group.

Survivors recall last moments before all hell broke loose*- News*|nation.co.ke

I'm so sad about this

ooh my god inasikitisha sana

Mwenyeezi Mungu awape subira wafiwa.

Dah inasikitisha sana......pole zao wafiwa na marafiki...........

pole kwa wafiwa wote

It's heart breaking to see how those innocent young persons loose their lives in such an unexpected tragedy.
I am truly sorry, may the Almighty rest them in peace.

Mungu apumzishe roho zao kwa amani; tumetoka huko na tunakwenda huko huko.

RIP brothers and sisters

...May God rest their soul in peace~AMEN

so sad to heard this RIP to all seven guys..

I can imagine kama wengine walishaingia kule chini kabisa ......duu inataka moyo sana

Pole zao sana hao vijana
hawakulitarajia na Mwenyezi Mungu azilaze roho zao mahali pema peponi

R.I.P Its a tragic accedent that could have been voided, had the adults would have cancelled the trip due to the bad wheather. Ile methali ya wahenga inayosema "Ajali haina kinga" ni yenye maana.