Two men hired to work on a proposed pit latrine died Thursday afternoon after the walls of a pit collapsed and buried them alive.

The two were in a company of three labourers hired by the management of a public primary school in Kakamega County to dig a pit latrine.

Kakamega Police Boss Joseph Omijah

The Esumeyia primary school community was plunged in mourning after the two bodies were retrieved from the collapsed 20 feet pit and taken to the Kakamega provincial general hospital mortuary.

The 1.00 pm incident brought the entire village to a standstill as a combined force of the police and the Kakamega Municipal Council disaster response unit arrived to help villagers in the recovery exercise.

Kakamega Police Boss Joseph Omijah confirmed the incident and warned the public against taking the risk of excavating especially during the rainy season.

 “The walls of the pit collapsed because the soils are heavy with water. It was risky for them to work inside,” said Omijah.