This archive report was first published on 4 October 2019.
Volker Bassen, a 51-year-old Swedish diver and founder of the East African Whale Shark Trust, has offered to help retrieve the bodies of Mariam Kighenda and her daughter Amanda Mutheu, who died in the Likoni ferry tragedy on October 3, 2019.
Bassen, who has over a decade of experience in diving and has established several diving training schools in Kenya, claims to have been involved in rescue missions in different countries and is experienced in deep water diving.
He said he would use his resources to complement the good work being done by the Kenya Navy divers and would not ask for anything in return. Bassen has access to special gases and equipment required for deep water diving, including a shark shield device that would prevent him from being attacked by bull sharks in the Mombasa harbour waters.
He estimated that it would take his team two hours to retrieve the bodies, using a rope and a lifting bag to lift the car up to the water surface.
Bassen has a reputation for being a skilled diver, having been involved in a rescue mission in 2012 to recover the body of a Swiss national after a helicopter plunged into Lake Michelson.
