Christmas celebrations turned tragic for a family in Mwatate, Taita Taveta County after their eight-year-old boy died under mysterious circumstances.

The boy, who went missing on Christmas day when the family had gone out to have fun at Shasha Camp Hotel, was found floating in a swimming pool Tuesday, dead.

Police in Mwatate are investigating whether the boy drowned while swimming or whether his body was dumped into the swimming pool after he was murdered.

Confirming the incident, Mwatate OCPD Monica Kimani said investigations were ongoing to unravel the circumstances under which the child died.

“His mother reported that her son went missing at the hotel at around 7pm as they were preparing to go home. They, however, saw his clothes abandoned a few meters from the pool,” she said.

She said the family conducted a search around the hotel and in the swimming pool but he could not be traced.

The OCPD said after the body was found, it was taken to the Moi County Referral Hospital mortuary in Voi awaiting post-mortem examination to establish the cause of his mysterious death.

The hotel's manager, Allen Mwazala, said the management established that the boy’s parents had cautioned him against swimming on that particular day.

"We suspect that he sneaked from where his parents were to go swim," he said.

He admitted that the hotel’s management has not put security measures at the pool to prevent such accidents.

"We caution our customers that there are no life guards," he said.