Student Dies After Going Missing At Mt Longonot
The student was rescued and airlifted for treatment at a Nairobi hospital by the multi-agency team, but he was declared dead on arrival.
Marvin Chege 
A student from Nyahururu Elite Secondary School died on Friday, October 28 after being reported missing during a hiking session at Mt Longonot in Nakuru County the day before.
Naivasha Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Mutua Kisilu, while confirming the unfortunate demise, stated that a multi-agency team found the boy approaching the peak of the caldera mountain when they resumed search and rescue efforts.
The student was rescued and airlifted for treatment at a Nairobi hospital by the multi-agency team, but he was declared dead on arrival.
Kisilu noted that the boy had bruises on his hands, seemingly indicating that he had fallen during the hiking expedition and was also breathing heavily by the time he was rescued.
An image of a crime scene. /FILE
Nyahururu Elite principal, Simon Gacheru Macharia, had earlier indicated that that 26 Form Four students and 10 teachers on Thursday went for the hike alongside another group of about 70 people.
Two hours into the hike, one of the students identified as 17-year-old Enock Balemba, was reported to have become restless and told one of his schoolmates that he could not continue.
The student, who is the school captain, had decided to stay behind and catch his breath but was then reported to have suddenly stood up and run towards the thickets before he disappeared.
The teachers then decided to report the matter to the Longonot KWS camp where KWS Officers joined the search team until 8 pm but the student could not be traced.
In 2017, a 21-year-old university student was found dead after she went missing with her boyfriend for nearly a year during a hiking expedition in Mt Kenya. Game wardens found the decomposed body of Yvonne Mwendwa in Mt Kenya Forest after searching for 11 months.
Mwendwa’s mother, Jadrine Kanyua, stated that authorities contacted them and confirmed that the body was that of her daughter.
The student at Kirinyaga University in Nyeri County disappeared with her boyfriend, 22-year-old musician Dennis Kirimi while hiking Mt Kenya in September 2016, with his whereabouts remaining unknown to date.
Investigations had initially hinted that they were on a suicide mission or they could have been kidnapped, but detectives were yet to find conclusive information on what transpired. An extensive search then led to the discovery of a suicide note in a hostel in Kerugoya, Kirinyaga County, that the two reportedly shared.
Hiking on mountains has its own dangers, given that hikers are exposed to a number of dangerous environments, animals and physical challenges, making falling and even death a serious issue.
Climbing Mt Kenya requires one to be generally fit and be versed with the correct equipment, knowledge on health and altitude in the mountains, acclimatising safely and advice from its mountaineers. This is because altitude sickness, caused by low oxygen levels, can kick in at around 1,500 metres, well below the mountain’s 5,199-metre Batian peak summit.
Early symptoms include light-headedness, dizziness, headaches and insomnia caused by over-exertion of the heart in pumping blood devoid of enough oxygen. If sufferers fail to descend at the onset of symptoms, altitude sickness can kill.
Hikers climbing Mt Kenya. /FOCUS EAST AFRICA
