Team recovers bodies of mother, daughter in Likoni ferry accident
A multi-agency team on Friday successfully retrieved a car containing the bodies of Mariam Kighenda and her daughter Amanda Mutheu, 13 days after it plunged into the Indian Ocean at the Likoni ferry channel.
The Toyota ISIS silver vehicle, registration number KCB 289C, was lifted off the ocean waters shortly after 4pm in an emotional moment witnessed by Transport Principal Secretary Esther Koimett, some government officials and hundreds of residents.
Navy Commander Levy Mghalu applauded the multi-agency team for carrying out the operation successfully.
"The operation was a tough exercise but our officers stood tall from Day One to this final day. We pray for the families," he said.
Koimett hailed the media for the wide and extensive coverage of the mission, saying it accorded it the necessary attention.
She said the government had learnt a lesson out of the incident and it will seek to find solutions to the identified issues.
"Much has been said about the exercise. However, we must acknowledge the challenges that our teams have gone through in ensuring success of this mission. It was a tough task," she said.
The car was on board MV Harambee, a ferry that operates on the Likoni Channel when it slipped off the ferry into the sea.
On Friday, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho urged Kenyans to desist from speculating much about the ferry accident, saying death is planned by God and not humans.
"Let's not be quick to point an accusing finger and calling for sacking of officials. Let's just treat this as an accident. Death is God's plan. Otherwise we say sorry to the families," said Joho
It was a sigh of relief for the bereaved family, government authorities and residents as the silver vehicle emerged out of the deep waters.
But even as the vehicle was successfully landed at KPA's Mbaraki warf, it emerged that the retrieval exercise was not an easy task. It was a laborious undertaking that involved hours of technical expertise both underwater and on land.
After the vehicle was located 58 metres underwater on Tuesday, there was hope of retrieving it on Thursday but strong undersea currents thwarted efforts by the team to reach the vehicle.
Government Spokesman Cyrus Oguna said hooks that were sunk into the sea to remove the vehicle could not reach it because of high currents.
The exercise was postponed to Friday morning when the multi-agency team set to work at 7am.
A team of engineers from Southern Engineering Company assembled a set of machinery that enabled the drifting of the vehicle from the point it was located to the Mbaraki warf via a crane mounted on a floating pontoon.
Nine hours later the vehicle was removed from the waters and landed safely at the warf where the bodies of Mariam Kighenda and her daughter Amanda Mutheu were retrieved and ferried away in a police van.
Led by their chaplain, the military officers held a brief prayer service and salutation known as "the last post” at the warf to signify the end of the mission.
