The Kilifi county disaster management team has been criticised for failing to equip its divers properly.
On Tuesday, the divers spent the whole day searching for the body of a man who committed suicide after jumping off Kilifi Bridge.
By Wednesday afternoon they had not retrieved the body. The rescuers lacked diving gear.
According to Coast Sea Survival Rescue Team, the tide was high and divers could not go underwater without scuba equipment.
“The county disaster management team was setup over three years, but they only have a rescue boat and life jackets. This mission would have ended yesterday if we had scuba equipment. It is hard to dive underwater without flippers and oxygen cylinders, which are part of the diving gear,” said Shallo Issa.
The team criticised the county government for employing incompetent staff in the department.
“When the disaster management team was established, the county hired us on a three -month contract. When it elapsed they gave us two more months and fired us,”
Mustafa Abdulazziz said.
He said
people who have no experience were hired.
In the last two months, three people have committed suicide by jumping over the Kilifi Bridge. Seven others drowned in the ocean.