Nakuru County Government health officials on Tuesday said they would close the Pilgrims Getawa Resort, where two men drowned last Wednesday, over health and safety concerns. Mr Simon Mbugua, 27, who had graduated last week with a Diploma from the Rift Valley Institute of Business Studies, located in Nakuru Town, drowned alongside his friend Moses Wangai while they were swimming in the resort’s pool.The two and six other friends were celebrating Mr Mbugua’s graduation. Their friends tried to rescue them but were unsuccessful. The resort did not have lifeguards.

Nakuru Public Health department officials inspected the swimming pool on Tuesday and said gave the directive for it to be closed as it was operating dangerously. They, however, had not given an official notice of closure and the resort owner told the Nation that the county officials had not communicated to him about the closure. Njoro Sub-County Public Health Officer George Gachomba, who visited the facility on Tuesday, said that even after the two men died in the pool, the water had not been changed. This is a health risk to other swimmers, he added, even as the health officials and journalists found children swimming in the pool. Mr Gachomba said the resort would be closed until the owners meet all the health and safety requirements.