Three middle-aged men died after they slipped into a 90-feet (27 metres) deep underground water reservoir at Ngoingwa estate, Thika town on Monday evening.
Eyewitnesses say one of them, a water vendor, was repairing an underground pump to pipe water to the six-storeyed Nyathira Square Apartment when he slipped and fell into the reservoir.
Two of his colleagues met their deaths as they tried to save him from well whose wall is highly slippery.
Firefighters from Kiambu County and police officers from Thika Police Station retrieved two of the bodies from the well.
Thika Sub County Deputy Police Commander Daniel Kitavi, while confirming the incident, said that the reservoir is deep but efforts were being made to retrieve the remaining body.
Residents led by Meshach Kariuki and Roseline Wambui regretted the incident, saying the men were resourceful as they used to support development in the area.