Swimming expedition turns tragic as two Kilifi brothers drown in Indian Ocean

Two brothers who went missing Sunday afternoon at the beach near the Kilifi Club have been found dead near Kilifi’s old ferry waters.

The two brothers, Keah Panuel (11) and Essau Panuel (nine), are believed to have drowned in the Indian Ocean while trying to swim.

Their bodies were retrieved from the ocean by divers from the Kilifi County Sea Rescue team led by Captain Issa Shallo and Caleb Otieno.

The rescuers had mounted a 72-hour operation after they received reports that the boys had been spotted swimming before they went missing in the rough waters on Sunday evening.

The distraught parents of the boys, Caroline Mjomba and Panuel Keah, were too shocked to speak to journalists.

The father almost collapsed on seeing the bodies of his children at the Kilifi County Hospital morgue.

The boys were pupils at Kilifi Primary School in Kilifi town.

According to the boys' cousin Monica Wamae, who was with them at the beach before they disappeared, the two boys wanted to swim and she warned them against going into the ocean.

“I took them from my aunt at Kasarani Village at around 2pm and they accompanied me as I headed to the beach to relax,” she said.

She said that while relaxing at the shore, the two boys asked for permission to swim.

STARTED SWIMMING

“I told them that they should just swim near the shoreline and at a place where I could easily see them. They took off their clothes and began to swim as I watched.

“Then they came out of the water and headed to another place where they started hunting for prawns outside the water,” she said.

Ms Wamae said that moments later she threw a glance at where they were seated but they were not there.

She then raised the alarm and with other people at the beach they started looking for them.

“It was about 5pm and security officers from Kilifi County Sea Rescue team came and kept people from accessing the beach.

“By that time, we had mounted a search for them and I had already told my uncle about it,” she said.

According to Monica, the father of the boys alerted divers from the County Sea Rescue team who began to search for the boys.

Mr Otieno, one of the officers in charge of the rescue mission, said they swung into action after they received the information from the family.

“We retrieved the two bodies clung together after a 72-hour operation in the beach and it seems the elder boy was trying to pull [out] his young brother who had been trapped.

“This is very sad. I urge parents to be extra careful this season because of the rough sea waves,” said Mr Otieno.

Kilifi OCPD Alexander Makau said police are investigating the deaths.