There was shock on a ferry on Sunday when an unidentified man jumped into the Indian Ocean in an apparent suicide mission while the vessel was en route from the mainland to the Island side in Likoni.
Police said the incident occurred at about 5:45 a.m., and the ferry had dozens of passengers then. This prompted a daylong search and rescue mission in vain.
The area he jumped off is thought to be one of the deepest, and it may take time to find him, officials said.
Coast police boss Ali Nuno said on Monday that teams were still searching the area.
“We don’t know what motivated him to do that, but our teams are there now for an ongoing search mission,” he said.
The duty officer from Kenya Ports Authority serry security, reported that the man described as an adult leapt into the ocean, leaving behind his mobile phone and a pair of slippers on the deck. The security team immediately dispatched a rescue boat to the scene, and a search and rescue operation was launched.
Authorities at Ferry Police Station confirmed they are coordinating with KPA officials to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The team was analysing the mobile phone to identify the victim.
Such incidents have been common on the waters, which prompted authorities to station rescue teams on the ferries or near them.
Others slip into the waters accidentally.
In some instances, the victims have died, while some were rescued by the responding teams.
Police said the Sunday incident was suicide, but the motive was not known.
Cases of suicide have been on the rise amid efforts to address the trend.
The World Health Organisation says such cases are also attributed to joblessness, death, academic failures or pressures, legal difficulties and financial difficulties.
Other reasons are bullying, previous suicide attempts, history of suicide in a family, alcoholism and substance misuse, depression and bipolar disorder.
The government says efforts are being made to address the menace.
Elsewhere in the Eastleigh area, Nairobi, a woman was crushed to death by a lorry after she fell off from a moving motorcycle.
Both the motorcycle and the lorry were speeding from Eastleigh to Kiambiu area when the rider hit a bump and threw off the pillion female passenger.
The woman landed on the road and was run over by the lorry that was trailing the motorcycle, police said.
Police were called to the scene and moved the body to the mortuary pending other procedures.
by CYRUS OMBATI
