A 40-year-old woman was electrocuted as she hung wet clothes on a line outside her house in Otamba village, Kisii County.
Police and residents said efforts to rescue the woman identified as Gladys Nyanchama did not bear fruit.
Preliminary findings showed that the main low-lying electric cable was swung by the wind and touched the clothesline as the woman was hanging the clothes. This caused the electrocution.
The woman was rushed to Christamarianne Mission Hospital but tragically succumbed to her injuries.
Her body has been taken to the hospital’s mortuary pending a postmortem and other procedures.
Officials blame such incidents on illegal power connections and the use of unqualified technicians for wiring.
There is a campaign to address the menace. Such cases have been on the rise in both rural and urban areas.
Elsewhere, a 12-year-old child sustained serious burns after he touched a live electric cable on the roadside in Eldama Ravine, Baringo County.
The cables were from a collapsed electric pole following heavy rains experienced in the area on February 8, officials said. The child was rushed to the hospital and admitted in stable condition.
Officials from Kenya Power visited the scene and announced they were investigating the incident.
In Narok County, a six-year-old boy who had been reported missing was found dead in a river.
The boy was herding goats in the area on February 8, 2026, before he went missing, police and locals said.
His body was discovered in a river near where he had been, and police said it had a deep wound on the forehead believed to have been inflicted by a sharp object.
The body was moved to the mortuary pending postmortem and other procedures, police said.
Police said they are investigating the incident as a murder and hope to make arrests.
Meanwhile, police in Kehancha, Migori County, are investigating a murder after the body of a man was found on the roadside.
Police said Geoffrey Chacha, 30, who worked as a casual labourer at a gold mining site, was found dead on the roadside, half-naked, with a head injury. Police said the injury was inflicted by a blunt object.
The body was moved to the mortuary pending an autopsy.
A man was also shot and killed in a robbery incident in Enoosaen, Transmara, Narok County.
Police said they are yet to make an arrest over the February 5, 2026 incident.
A team visited the scene of the shooting and recovered a spent cartridge and footage from a security camera that captured the dramatic attack.
A postmortem confirmed that the man died from a bullet wound, with the bullet entering from the right side of the chest and exiting at the back.
by CYRUS OMBATI
