Coast

Three more bodies found after Tana River boat accident

Members of the public camp at the scene of a boat accident at Mororo in Tana River County, amid a search for victims’ bodies, on April 29, 2024. (Photo: Issa Hussein)

By Abdimalik Hajir | Tuesday, April 30, 2024

This raises the total number of bodies recovered, since the accident in Mororo two days ago, to seven.

Three more bodies have been recovered from the flooded Tana River as the Kenya Red Cross Society continues with a search for missing persons following a boat accident two days ago.

Daud Ahmed Shale, Garissa County's Red Cross coordinator, told The Eastleigh Voice that the bodies were found on Tuesday morning, raising the total found so far to seven.

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The tragedy occurred on April 28 as a private boat headed from Madogo to Mororo, with 43 people on board. The government has since suspended the operations of private speedboats.

The bodies recovered on Tuesday—two men and a woman—were taken to the Garissa County Referral Hospital mortuary after family members positively identified them.

The woman was one of the two daughters of Dubow Noor, a driver at the Teachers' Service Commission (TSC).

Dubow and his wife, Hawa Jele, said on Monday that their two daughters—23-year-old Ubah Dubow Noor and 20-year-old Rithwan Dubow Noor—had just returned from Nairobi.

"The Kenya Red Cross aqua team is still engaged in search and recovery efforts. The recovery of three more bodies today makes the total seven so far," he said.

Daud said they have set up three tracing desks—at the Garissa hospital, the Garissa bridge, and in Mororo—and that 19 people have been registered as missing persons.

He added that the Red Cross and the county government are providing victims' families with psychosocial support.

"We are also coordinating between the county and the national government in asking family members to come forward and register missing persons," he said.

Fatuma Ahmed Bathi, whose 50-year-old brother Ibrahim Ahmed Bathi is missing, accused the government of negligence and insensitivity following a scuffle on Monday that saw the police fire tear gas at families waiting at the scene for the recovery of their relatives' bodies.

A witness said Hawa's son was pushed into the water as the police tried to control the crowd, resulting in a disturbance that saw her arrested. She was later released without charge.

"How can you arrest a grieving mother who is mourning her two daughters? This is being very insensitive and inhumane," Fatuma told The Eastleigh Voice by phone.

Red Cross is also assisting about 5,000 people displaced by floods, whom it says are staying at 10 camps within Garissa Township.

"We are providing non-food items such as jerrycans, soap, buckets, water purifiers, sanitary pads, and mosquito nets," Daud said.