Tana River boat tragedy: Families accuse state of negligence in retrieval of bodies

Kenyans affected by the Tana River boat accident on Monday accused the government of negligence in the retrieval of victims' bodies, saying only the Kenya Red Cross Society was helping them.

The complaints came as Red Cross personnel retrieved four bodies, a process that families said was slow as the government has not dispatched teams to join forces with the agency.

Four bodies have been recovered so far following the boat accident on Sunday as members of the public tried to make their way through floodwaters in the Kona Punda area.

The tragedy occurred as a private boat headed from Madogo to Mororo, with 43 people on board. The government has since suspended the operations of private speedboats.

The four victims were among six people officially registered as missing earlier on Monday, by family members who visited a desk set up by the Red Cross at the scene of the tragedy.

Duncan Rono, Garissa Township's acting deputy county commissioner, briefed the media early in the day, saying two bodies had been retrieved. He added that 23 people had been rescued and six registered as missing, while 13 were unaccounted for.

Later, Red Cross Garissa County Coordinator Daud Ahmed Shale said a woman's body was the third to be found and that it was identified by her family.

The fourth body found by the search team was that of Ibrahim Ahmed Bathi. It was taken to the mortuary at the Garissa County Referral Hospital for collection by relatives for burial.

Mohamed Amin, one of Ibrahim's relatives, said they were relieved by the finding, as police had dispersed the people from the scene as the size of the crowd grew, interfering with the search.

Anger and frustration

Hundreds of people, most of them the victims' relatives, camped on the Garissa bridge in waiting as the search for bodies took place, with the police barricading the passage to keep them from getting closer to the scene.

They lobbed tear gas canisters and shot in the air to disperse a crowd that was getting out of control. Reports indicated that some of the grieving relatives were arrested but the police were not immediately available to comment on this.

Some of the relatives said they were frustrated by the slow pace of the search for the bodies.

"We are grieving and are hurt because the police are not allowing us to go beyond the bridge. What we want is to at least get closer to the river and see if we can do something," said Halima Mohamed, whose niece is missing.

Halima regretted that only Red Cross personnel were at the scene yet such an operation should involve several government agencies.

Her sentiments were shared by Dubow Noor, whose two daughters are missing. The two were identified as 23-year-old Ubah Dubow Noor and 20-year-old Rithwan Dubow Noor.

Dubow's wife, Hawa Jele, confirmed that their children were on the boat with their aunt, Kamar Jele, who was rescued and taken to the Madogo hospital along with other survivors.

Hawa said the two travelled from Nairobi on Sunday using a private vehicle that had only just dropped them off when the tragedy occurred. She was hopeful that the search team, which used two boats in the operation, would find their bodies.

Hawa Jele, whose two daughters are missing following the Tana River boat tragedy, is pictured at a Kenya Red Cross Society help desk, amid a search for victims’ bodies, on April 29, 2024. (Photo: Issa Hussein)

Dubow, a civil servant working for the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) as a driver, said they did not want their children to travel amid the bad weather.

"Their mother had warned them not to come at this time of floods but they called her on their way to Garissa in a private vehicle," he told journalists in Garissa, flanked by family members.

He said their aunt updated them on the journey after they alighted from the bus, saying they were waiting to get on a boat, and that this was their last conversation.

Dubow decried "gross negligence" in the operation, saying that only Red Cross personnel were involved. He also said the process was slow and appealed to the government and other agencies to help families with the search.

He said, "Up to now, we know nothing about my daughters, and even worse, the police have completely refused to let us see the scene of the accident. It has been 24 hours yet we have nothing. Where is the Marine? Where is the Kenya Navy? Am I not Kenyan?"

Members of the public at the scene in Mororo, Tana River County, where a boat capsized on April 28, 2024. (Photo: Abdimalik Hajir)

Dubow also accused the police of ill-treatment, saying Hawa was arrested as they tried to control the crowd.

A witness said Hawa's son was pushed into the water as the police tried to control the crowd, resulting in a scuffle that saw her arrested. She was later released without any charge.

Mohamed, a relative of the missing girls, said, "We have been here since early morning but instead of helping us, the police have been beating us and throwing teargas at us."

He added that if the government is incapable of helping the families, it should let the divers among them join the search.

Ahmed Bathi Adhan, a former councillor whose 50-year-old son Ibrahim Ahmed Bathi is missing, also blamed the government, saying it has neglected its duty to protect Kenyans.

Ahmed said Ibrahim had travelled with his four children, who were all rescued.

He added, "We are only seeing the Red Cross running up and down. Where is the government machinery?"