Car plunges into Indian Ocean leaving one dead

One person has died after a vehicle plunged he was in plunged into the Indian Ocean at the Likoni Channel in Mombasa on Monday evening.

An eye witness who works for the Kenya Ferry Services manning the mainland side said it appeared that the Probox vehicle developed a mechanical problem as the driver drove out of the MV Likoni ferry.

It was not clear if there were other passengers in the car or the man, whom relatives said was an accountant at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) was alone. Police, however, suspect there could have been other passengers.

According to a workmate, Victoria Mutua, the deceased left work in the evening alone.

“He left work alone but we do not know if he carried anyone in the car, we are shocked by the incident,” said Ms Mutua.

An hour later after the accident, Kenya Navy and local divers reached at the scene and managed to retrieve the body.

However, the divers postponed the search because of darkness at the Indian Ocean.

“We managed to get the man out of the car but we cannot continue with the search because we cannot work with this darkness, we will also need more equipment for the work,” said one of the divers.

Likoni OCPD Willy Simba said they feared that the two more people could still be trapped in the vehicle that was still in the Ocean.

“Let us hope that tomorrow we will get the car out and also find out if there are more people in it, our aim is to ensure we get the people dead or alive,” said Mr Simba.

Curious onlookers and Kenya Ferry guards had a hard time consoling some of the relatives and colleagues of the dead man who were at the scene.

A relative has said the victim worked as an accountant at Kenya Ports Authority.

More to follow