A somber mood has engulfed a family in Malindi after the body of their 19 year old relative who went missing on Wednesday when he was swimming with his friends at Law Fords beach, was found on Thursday evening at the sea shores.
According to his sister Jane Muthoni, they had gone swimming with their brother on Wednesday evening at around 5:00 pm when he went missing.
She said their efforts to rescue their brother were futile as he was swept away by strong winds of the Indian Ocean.
“We tried our level best to bring him out when we learnt that he was overpowered by the sea water but strong currents swept him away as we watched,” she narrated to journalists weeping.
She went further to add that they also screamed for help from other people who were swimming but before divers arrived at the scene of incident their brother had gone missing.
The disappointed Muthoni said they tried to get assistance from divers and fishermen to at least trace their brother's body but they could not trace it until Thursday evening when the body was found at the sea shore at Law Fords beach.
“We have spent sleepless nights searching for the body of our brother since Wednesday but now we are relieved,” added Muthoni.
Malindi police boss Kiprono Lang’at confirmed the incident and said the body of the deceased was taken to Malindi district Hospital Mortuary.
However he said that they had warned residents and visitors touring the tourist town of Malindi to avoid swimming at the Law Fords beach where there are strong currents which are dangerous.
“We have been warning them through the media to avoid swimming at Law Fords beach because there are very dangerous water currents which are strong but the warning has been taken lightly,” said Lang’at.
The incident is the second in the spate of one week after another person died at Kilima Ndogo beach in Malindi when he was rescuing two tourists’ children who were being carried away by strong sea water currents.
The middle aged man, a worker of one of tourists Hotels in Malindi had swam in the beach to rescue two children who were almost drowning when they went to swim at the beach.
Kiprono said residents and visitors should be careful and make sure they only swim at all beaches in Malindi except the Law Fords beach which he said has claimed many lives.
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.