Search for man who drowned in River Tana continues

The Kenya Red Cross disaster response team has continued the search for the body of a man who drowned in the crocodile-infested River Tana on Saturday afternoon.

Godhana Damasa 24 drowned while fishing.

Speaking at the scene, Garissa Red Cross county coordinator  Mohamed Dubow said they received a call from a relative to the deceased asking for assistance.

“We received a call that someone had drowned at river Tana and immediately assembled a disaster response team. We are hopeful that we will find the body,” Dubow said.

He said, their challenge was high turbulence in the river because of high water levels.

“There are a lot of logs and mud making it hard for the motorboat to effectively move but we will do our best.”

Fikiri Karisa who was fishing alongside Damasa at around 5 pm said the deceased drowned while fishing and suspects he could have been pulled down by a crocodile.

“We were fishing together at the banks of the river when he suddenly called me for help but before I could reach out to him, he drowned.” 

“Hopefully, when the body is retrieved we will get to know what happened to the deceased,” he said.

The deceased family called for the government and Kenya Red Cross to help them find the body of their kin for proper burial.

“We are asking the government to help us find the body of our brother. We also need the police to investigate this matter so that if he was attacked by a crocodile, we be compensated,” Shoba Damakha the brother to the deceased said.

The matter was reported at Madogo Police station.

Edited by Kiilu Damaris