Photos: Dream beach holiday ends in tragedy as 7 students drown in the Indian Ocean

Tragedy struck on Wednesday afternoon August 12th when 7 students of St Martin Boys’ Boarding Primary School in Kahuro, Murang’a County, Kenya drowned in the Indian Ocean while on school holiday. The students, aged between 13 and 15, met their deaths while swimming at the Pavilion Beach, Diani, in Kwale.

The students were on a tour of the Coast as they waited to sit their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams in November.

Sources at the scene of the incident narrated how it all happened to news men.

 "Normally, there are trained divers who guide people swimming in sea, but the school’s teacher said they had their own person who would guide the pupils,”

The students, according to them, had arrived at 1pm that fateful day and immediately hit the waters in windy weather. They were having a good time until the receding tides overwhelmed some of the swimmers. They called for help but it was too late and they were swallowed by the sea. It took divers more than six hours to retrieve the bodies due to poor coordination.

According to the Governor of Murang’a, Mwangi wa Iria, the bodies were airlifted by Kenya Airways to Nairobi yesterday. The burial expenses of the pupils would be covered by the government.

“The families will receive their loved ones from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and will be helped to take them to the nearest mortuaries since the pupils came from different areas,” he said.

Source: Kenya Daily Nation