Rescuers recover two bodies in Tana River boat tragedy

Stranded passengers coming to Mombasa from Lamu board speed boats around Gamba in Tana River County after a section of the Garsen-Lamu highway road was cut off by floods. [Maarufu Mohamed, Standard]

Two bodies have so far been recovered as search intensifies for missing people after a boat capsized in River Tana at Kona Punda in Tana River county.

Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) Garissa county coordinator Daud Ahmed Shale said two bodies of women were recovered on Monday morning and identified by their family members.

Rescuers managed to rescue 23 people who had boarded the ill-fated boat as reports indicate that it was ferrying about 43 people when it capsized on Sunday evening.

Shale announced thattwo rescue teams are searching for the missing people and two speed boats have deployed in the mission.

Further, the official said two tracing desks have been set up at Mororo and Garissa Referral hospitals.

Out of the 18 people who are still missing, Shale said only six have been claimed at the tracing desks.

"We do not have any report of the other 12. We also don't know whether the missing persons are still alive or they have died but the search is still on," Shale told journalists near the scene where the tragedy occurred.

The KRCS has also set up psycho-social support for families who have lost their loved ones in the boat tragedy.

Meanwhile, the government has suspended operations of private boats on the flooded waters in the area as police launch a manhunt for the owner of the speedboat who is said to be from Lamu County.

"We only need Kenya Red Cross Society speed boats to operate and any other private boats are suspended immediately. We have leads to apprehend the suspect who is the owner of the boat," said acting Garissa Township Deputy County Commissioner Duncan Rono.

Rono said the government has deployed security personnel to cordon the area and Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) are also helping in search and rescue operations.

"We expect the water level to increase in the coming days. We urge members of the public to desist from going to flood waters," he said.

Travelers were crossing over using the boat while those going to Nairobi boarded the boat at Mororo with each person being charged Sh1,500 per trip.

"It's a very unfortunate situation that someone just decided to bring an unlicensed boat without any regard to the safety of his passengers, overloaded it and rushed over running waters, this man must immediately be apprehended," said Garissa Governor Nathif Jama.

The governor criticised the Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) for what he said, putting patches on the road.

"There must be a solution for this mess, how come water can just be released casually washing farms and killing people downstream, how long can this go on, we must have this kind of discussion now," said the governor.