11 killed when truck hits people boarding Kenya ferry

NAIROBI—At least 11 people were killed Saturday morning when a truck lost control and rammed into passengers boarding a ferry in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa, the Kenya Red Cross said.

“So far we can confirm 11 deaths from the ferry tragedy. Scores are still trapped at the scene and more than 20 people have been evacuated,” Mombasa regional Red Cross chief Mwanaisha Hamisi told Agence France-Presse.

Hamisi confirmed witness accounts of the event, saying “the lorry rammed into the passengers as they were boarding the ferry.”

“Its brakes failed then it lost control and hurtled down the ferry’s boarding ramp, running over the passengers and trapping people underneath it,” she added.

“Hamisi said that the death toll could rise as “many people are trapped in the wreckage.”

A witness, Hassan Juma, who was on his way to work told an Agence France-Presse reporter that he “saw the lorry lose control and ram into a crowd of passengers boarding the ferry.”

The area traffic police boss confirmed the incident but was unsure of the number of dead and injured.

“We have dispatched a team to the scene…We can’t tell the exact number of people because there are a lot of people usually crossing the channel,” regional traffic police chief Joshua Omukata said.

Mombasa, some 400 kilometres (248 miles) southeast of the capital Nairobi is Kenya’s main port city and a key tourist hub famed for its sandy beaches.