This archive report was first published on 3 October 2019.
On October 2, 2019, Mombasa County Governor Hassan Joho visited the family of Mariam Kighenda, whose body and that of her four-year-old daughter Amanda Mutheu were lost in the Indian Ocean during the Likoni ferry tragedy.
During the visit, Joho announced that he would provide Sh2 million to the family to hire deep-sea diving experts from South Africa to aid in the retrieval of the bodies.
According to Mombasa Communications Director Richard Chacha, Joho's financial support was intended to help the family retrieve their loved ones, who had sunk into the Indian Ocean on Sunday evening.
“I have sent for experts from South Africa to join efforts with multi-agency teams that are working round the clock to retrieve the bodies,” Joho stated on Wednesday evening.
The efforts to retrieve the bodies have been ongoing, with ferry services at the channel being halted for at least 30 minutes on Monday and Wednesday to facilitate the operation.
However, the retrieval efforts have been futile so far, with the Government attributing the delay to the complexity of the search operations and poor visibility in the water.
