The East Africa Ocean Festival in Mombasa has today been suspended abruptly after tragedy struck during a boat race, leaving three people missing and 19 others rescued.
The incident occurred Friday evening, when a boat carrying 23 participants capsized near the Tudor Creek as it neared the finish line.
Speaking at the scene, Mombasa County Commissioner Mohamed Nur said that the Festival has been halted to allow uninterrupted rescue operations, which could take up to 72 hours.
“We urge them to be patient and accord the rescue teams the space to search for the bodies and retrieve them from the ocean. Let’s not have the commotion that was witnessed yesterday night, where stones were thrown. Let’s give our Officers time to work,” he stated.
He assured the families that the bodies would be found, as the State has pulled out all the stops, and many rescue boats have been deployed.
“We have agreed with the Organising Committee to suspend the Festival. Today was the awarding day, but we have suspended all that. This operation area is out of bounds for all the boats, except the ones involved in the rescue.”
Governor Abdulswamad Nassir said the annual private-organised event ended prematurely after a boat that was in a race capsized; 19 people were rescued, while three are still missing.
“As we speak right now, we have four boats from the Navy. We have a boat from the Kenya Coast Guard, a boat from the Kenya Maritime Authority, a boat from the Kenya Forestry Service, and a boat from the Kenya Wildlife Service, and equally, the County Government of Mombasa has deployed four rescue boats,” he stated.
The Governor confirmed that the Kenyan Navy has mapped out the ocean, where the rescue boats will take segments to accelerate the rescue mission. He urged the people to be calm as the rescue mission is underway.
Jomvu Member of Parliament (MP) Badi Twalib lauded the Kenya Navy Soldiers for leading efforts in the rescue operations. He also appeals to the families to be calm as the multi-agency operation continues.
Human Rights Activists blamed the organisers of the event for not adhering to basic safety protocols such as ensuring the competing teams had life-saving jackets and standby rescue teams.
“To be honest, yesterday’s event didn’t follow the safety measures that are supposed to be in place for an event of such magnitude,” stated Haki Africa Rapid Response Officer Mathias Shipeta, promising to ensure the families get justice.
Salma Hemed from the ‘She Raise’ organisation accused the main organiser of the event of giving a wide berth to the rescue mission and instead going underground.
She urged the multi-agency team to provide constant updates to the families on the rescue mission, citing the commotion that was witnessed in the morning due to emotions.
“We want the National and County governments, to come up with strategies on how they will counsel the families to be assisted psychologically when the bodies are found,” she said.
Another Human Rights Activist, Walid Sketty, called for the arrest of the event organiser and scaling-up of disaster management teams to be ready for tragedies.
Ziro Kasha said his nephew Steve Karembo, 24 years old, is among the three missing persons. He echoed Sketty’s sentiments, calling for a thorough probe of the event organisers.
By Sadik Hassan
