Likoni Channel Accident: Operation to Retrieve Bodies from Indian Ocean Yet to Begin over 24 Hours Later

More than 24 hours after a car with two occupants slid from a ferry at the Likoni Channel and sunk into the Indian Ocean, the operation to retrieve their bodies is yet to begin.

On Monday, Coast Regional Coordinator John Elungata said the operation was delayed over lack of equipment to pull out the car from the ocean.

Elungata indicated that the government was forced to source for diving equipment from a South African company to help embark on the operation on Tuesday.

He added that Kenya Ferry Services (KFS) managing-director Bakari Gowa should take responsibility for the Sunday 6 pm accident.

On Monday, KFS said the vehicle sunk 60 meters deep and its divers can only go 30 meters with the oxygen tanks available.

35-year-old Mariam Kigenda Taita and her four-year-old daughter Amanda Mutheu died after her vehicle slid off MV Harambee ferry and plunged into the sea.

The ill-fated car, a Toyota ISIS registration number KCB 289C, is said to have been the last to board MV Harambee. Likoni OCPD Benjamin Rotich said the vehicle might have lost its breaks and reversed into the ocean.

Mariam’s husband and other family members camped at the Likoni Channel on Monday as they waited in vain for the retrieval of the bodies of their kin. They faulted the government for doing little to find their loved ones.

Private divers allegedly refused to participate in the exercise citing non-payment for previous work.