Two University Students Drown In A River While Taking Selfie. Photos

The students have drowned in a river while taking selfie, according to reports.

The students identified as Ms Sharlet Atieno and Mr Derick Ouka planned their usual Saturday outing to Siaya town, Kenya, little did they know the tragedy that lay ahead.

This was the second time the pair and two other friends — Beatrice Stephanie Atieno and Steven Omondi — had planned for a photo shoot on the banks of River Yala.

Ms Atieno, a first-year student at Bondo Technical Training Institute, was all set and posed for a photo on the rocks. The picture was to be taken by Mr Ouka, a second-year student at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology in Kenya.

Suddenly, Ms Atieno slipped and fell into the river. Her friends thought it was a prank.

We burst into laughter but that soon turned into panic when she failed to resurface,” Ms Stephanie, a Kabianga University student, said. Realising how dire the situation was, Mr Ouka jumped into the river in an attempt to rescue a drowning friend.

However, he was overwhelmed by the current. Efforts Ms Stephanie and Mr Omondi to rescue the pair bore no fruit.

“I jumped into the river too and got hold of Sharlet but she slipped and disappeared,” Mr Omondi said.

The search for the two bodies, which began on Saturday afternoon, was still going on by Monday evening.

Mr Ouka’s mother Jacinta Adhiambo was taken to Avenue Hospital in Kisumu when she fainted after receiving the news of the drowning.

Relatives and friends of the two have appealed to the Siaya County government to help find the bodies.

Bondo Police chief Harriet Kinya said efforts to find the bodies are ongoing.