Fatal boat adventure that left five dead

Locals mount a search for bodies at Arongo beach in Seme Kisumu County following a fatal boat accident that occurred on March 20, 2021. All five bodies have already been retrieved from the lake. The victims of the accident were visitors from Nyandarua county who had attempted a boat ride for the first time. (Collins Oduor, Standard)

At the home of Pamela Anyango in Arongo village of Seme in Kisumu County, mourning was cut short on Saturday.

A shocking phone call came as guests were taking position shortly after lowering the body of her husband, Mr John Otieno.

“The caller told me that some people believed to be guests who had attended the burial of my husband had had an accident in the lake,” said Anyango.

And then there was confusion as mourners rushed to the nearby Arongo Beach to find out what had transpired.

On reaching the beach, it was discovered that the victims were a team from St Francis Hospital in Kasarani, Nairobi.

The victims, Anne Ngondi, Monica Mwihaki and Ms Roseline, all kitchen staff of the hospital had drowned in the deep waters of the lake along with a fisherman who steered the boat and another unidentified person.

News of the demise of the hospital staff was met with a somber and grieving mood, a situation that saw the hospital’s top management leave Nairobi Saturday morning to oversee the recovery of the bodies.

It all started with a request to the fisherman for a boat ride with the relatives of one of the deceased claiming that it was their first time to visit the region.

The Secretary of the Beach Management Unit John Nguda, said the guests got to the beach at about 4.30pm, and after a short stare of the waters, they asked to be given a ride into the lake.

Nguda said two fishermen who are seasoned riders in the lake stepped up, and took a small boat, and begun to row into the lake.

While about 200 metres into the waters, one of the passengers allegedly took out her phone, and started taking pictures.

“Her movement as she tried to get the best position for the picture destabilized the boat, and the boat lost balance, and capsized,” he said.

Onlookers at the shore took other boats and ran to their rescue but by the time they got to the boat, five people had drowned.

Three bodies were retrieved on the same day, as two others were removed from the water on Sunday evening. The bodies were ferried to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Three others who were rescued were still in shock and could not speak to journalists. They had received treatment at a nearby health facility.

When the Standard team visited the beach on Sunday, the killer boat was lying lonely at the shores of the lake as residents camped a few meters away with local fishermen volunteering in turn to search for two missing bodies.

Mr Nguda said the fishermen had ventured into the lake without life jackets, and that the boat was not big enough to comfortably carry the weight of the eight occupants.

“This is a small boat and it is used for fishing. We do not allow people to get into the lake without life jackets, but I think those people took advantage of the absence of the BMU leadership that was attending the said funeral,” he said.

At her home, Ms Anyango was distraught, having to bear with the blame emanating from the death of guests who had attended her husband’s burial. The guests are workmates of her daughter at the Kasarani based hospital.

Yesterday, the family of the late Ms Mwihaki who visited the mortuary to view the body said they were planning to ferry the body to Nairobi by today (Monday).

Mwihaki’s brother Maina Kibe said his 45-year-old sister had spoken to him shortly before the incident.

“It was her first time to come to Kisumu, and she informed me that she was finally in Kisumu to attend a burial. And I think this is what made her to adventure by taking a boat ride as it was a lifetime opportunity. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it out of the lake,” he said.

He said Mwihaki, a mother of two was a joyful lady and a dedicated family woman.

By the time of going to press, the relatives of the other deceased colleagues were said to be on their way to the mortuary to identify the bodies of their loved ones.

The incident is set to elicit fresh debates on the safety at Lake Victoria which has witnessed several accidents in the recent past including last year’s fatal accident in Usenge involving a waterbus.

During yesterday’s incident, residents faulted the government over their slow response to help with the recovery efforts of the victims of the accident.

Fishermen had to improvise retrieval methods using their fishing nets to search for the five bodies in waters infested with crocodiles.

“We do not know the people who perished but we are just volunteering to find their bodies,” said Joseph Ouko, a fisherman.

Before the fishermen retrieved all the bodies, Bedan Mwichira, the area assistant County Commissioner claimed that they were coordinating the search with other state agencies.  

By Harold Odhiambo, Kevine Omollo and Vivianne Wandera  

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