Three people lost their lives Wednesday night when their fishing vessel was rammed by a vessel near Remba Island in Suba North, Homa Bay County.
The four fishers had already thrown their nets and were asleep when the accident occurred, as officials with knowledge of the event reported.
Edward Oremo, the chairman of Homa Bay County Beach Management Unit (BMU), reported that the vessel, which was headed from Uganda to Kisumu, rammed into a small fishing vessel, breaking it into three.
“The vessel parted ways into three as a result of being rammed by the ship when the four fishermen were asleep,” Oremo stated.
Only one of the fishermen was able to survive. He allegedly cling to fragments of their damaged vessel until he was noticed by searchers.
Local divers joined citizens searching for bodies of three missing fishermen on Thursday morning. According to Oremo, “The county government will also work with other marine authorities to help identify how this accident occurred and what measures were taken to comply with safety.”
This latest accident has also highlighted the issue of night navigation on Lake Victoria, where fishermen are known to operate in fishing boats that are not well-lit, as bigger ships also operate in the same lake.
This latest disaster comes only two months after three persons lost their lives in a separate marine accident that occurred during the East African Ocean Festival in Mombasa, where a boat with 22 passengers capsized. Nineteen of those passengers were rescued in the disaster, reported Kenya Red Cross.
