Search and rescue underway in Kenya after car plunges into ocean
Monday September 30 2019
Onlookers at the Island side ramp of the Likoni channel in Mombasa, Kenya, where a vehicle plunged into the Indian Ocean. PHOTO | MOHAMED AHMED | NATION MEDIA GROUP
MOMBASA,
Search and rescue efforts are underway after a saloon car on Sunday evening plunged into the Indian Ocean at the busy Likoni channel in Kenya’s coastal town Mombasa.
Police say the white car, which was among the last ones to get into Mv Harambee from the mainland side of the channel, slid back from the vessel mid-stream.
A witness, Mr Mlei Majaliwa, said he saw a woman and a boy in the vehicle.
“I saw the woman and a boy inside the car. She had started screaming and calling for help when the car started to reverse. I threw a life saver at them," said Mr Majaliwa who was in the same ferry.
Likoni Sub County Police Commander Benjamin Rotich said it is believed that the vehicle had four occupants.
"The woman was the driver, the information we have indicates they were four," he said.
Witnesses said there was an altercation between the woman and the Kenya Ferry Service (KFS) officials at the mainland side ramp earlier.
“The officials had stopped the woman after she was seen accessing the ferry from the side which is used by people with KFS special passes,” said a witness.
KFS says the cause of the accident is still under investigations as search and rescue efforts are underway.
“Neither the car nor the occupants have been retrieved. We share our sincere sympathies to the affected as the salvage operations continue," KFS posted on its official Facebook page.