Six passengers, a driver and a conductor of an Ukunda-bound minibus today escaped death by a whisker after the bus failed to climb the steep hill and overturned at the Likoni-Ferry crossing channel.
The bus was coming from Machakos County. Luckily, it had only six passengers on board including a mother and her two children after other passengers alighted before it crossed to the mainland side of the channel.
According to eyewitnesses, the bus was obstructed by a fully loaded handcart (mkokoteni) with market products.
The driver of the ill-fated bus successfully steered the vehicle from plunging into the ocean and reversed it back onto the ferry.
The vehicle overturned while being reversed and overturned at the ferry’s prow. The passengers on board were evacuated.
According to a statement from the Kenya Red Cross Society, nine people were injured. Seven were treated at the channel while two were rushed to the Coast Genera Teaching and Referral Hospital (CPGH) for treatment.
“The vehicle was moving out of the ferry then suddenly reversed and overturned. We were wailing to get assistance. The children were rescued,” said Beatrice Ngesa, a survivor at the CPGH.
Issack Yasin, an eyewitness, blamed the overloaded mkokoteni that could not climb the steep hill on the mainland.
He noted that the mikokoteni do not abide by the rules and the regulations in the channel calling on the authorities to ensure they are not overloaded.
“The mkokoteni was climbing, it started to cause obstruction. It was raining and the bus failed to climb the hill. Drivers experience challenges balancing clutches and brakes when the vehicle is on the hill. He tried his best to save lives,” said Yasin.
Lucky Samba, an official of Chania Executive Bus said a mkokoteni obstructed their vehicle and it slipped and went back into the ferry, overturning at the ferry prow.
Mombasa Governor Abdullswamad Nassir who visited the accident survivors said all the passengers with minor injuries were treated and discharged.
Nassir revealed that talks were ongoing with the Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport for the ferries to strictly serve passengers on feet only and vehicles to use the Dongo Kundu bypass.
“It is going to be our proposal and our standing that we are going to put a permanent ban (on vehicles),” he stated, adding that they would also have discussions with other stakeholders including KPA.
“The ferry is only a social service. The ferry is not a commercial service that the KPA runs and all human life is valued way more. We would rather have those ferries doing nothing else except passengers on foot,” he added.
The Governor said the move would enhance efficiency at the channel as passengers would no longer experience hurdles of being disrupted by vehicles and mikokoteni.
Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) Acting Director General Julius Koech assured ferry users that the ferries were safe, and that the morning incident was an accident.
“We have been working in very close collaboration with Kenya Ports Authority to ensure that standards are being met and that all the inefficiencies after inspection are being closed. We are even going further to ascertain that the operations of the ferries are safe,” said the KMA Ag. DG.
By Sadik Hassan
