One missing, 9 rescued as boat capsizes in Mombasa

A man is missing at sea after a boat capsized in Kanaola, Jomvu sub-county, on Friday.

Nine other people, five men, three women and a three-year-old boy survived the Friday 10pm tragedy.

At about 9.50pm, a four-meter wooden boat left the seashore ferrying the occupants.

It crossed Tudor creek from Mombasa to Maunguja Voroni in  Kilifi county but capsized after it hit a wave.

The victims and the skipper were thrown into the water.

The Standard on Sunday visited the scene as local rescuers and the police tried to search for the missing man.

He has been identified as Samwel Tsui, 32, an employee of Mabati Rolling Mills in Miritini.

One of the survivors, Purity Mrabai, a mother of two, recounted how she survived the incident.

Mrabai was attending a relative's burial in Kilifi and had boarded the boat with her son.

After they left the offshore, about 50m, the waves started hitting the boat.

She was helped by other passengers who swam better than she could.

hammed Malanga, 25, said the boat started sinking slowly after the waves hit it.

Passengers pay Sh15 for a distance of about 500m.

Malanga said efforts to rescue Tsui bore no fruit as the sea was rough.

Agnes Mkare, who is also Tsui's sister, said she was called at night and informed about the incident.

"My brother is a father of four. I spoke with him on the phone earlier," she said.

Village elder Wanje Zero said it is wrong to get on a boat without a life jacket on, which he said is one of the rules.

The incident is the third in the last three months in accidents that have claimed three lives.

Jomvu Sub-County police commander Johnson Polloh said a multy-agency team is working to find the missing man.