This Man Has Been Retrieving Dead Bodies From Rivers For 45 Years

The name is Mr Zablon Lumbasia, better known as the ‘Good Samaritan’. In perhaps what is a shocking yet brave hustle, the man has retrieved over 70 human bodies from rivers in the western region.

Mr. Zablon has been in this business for over 45 years. He discovered the body of ICC witness Meshack Yebei from the river Yala and instantly shot to the limelight. He had been called upon to help search for the bodies of two students who had drowned in the river in this particular occasion.

The traditional diver explains that he lives by a strict code of conduct, he never bargains for payment, only accepting whatever bereaved families pay him. “It is taboo for traditional divers to demand a specific amount of money or even cows after retrieving a body,” he says.

Among the most vulnerable people he has to find bodies of when it comes to drowning, he says, are teachers and students returning home in the evening.

he says he has also retrieved a lot of bodies of illegal timber loggers who drown while attempting to swim across the rivers at night to cut down trees in government forests.

Mr. Zablon has also been called upon to retrieve a huge number of suicide victims.

Before a search begins, rituals have to be performed, especially in western Kenya, the bereaved family will slaughter a black ram and light a fire by the riverside “to chase away bad omens”.

Lumbasia who chairs the divers’ association in the western region says they go through heavy rigorous training before the traditional divers can start working on retrieving bodies.

He says the job requires healthy and bold people stating that he has faced many dangers over the years, including an incident in 2010 when he was almost attacked by a python when searching for a body in River Yala. He managed to swim to safety. He also urges Kenyans to stay away from large water bodies during the rain for safety.