An Irishwoman and her British husband along with their 8-year-old child have drowned off the coast of Kenya. The couple’s other five-year-old child is still missing and presumed dead.
It is believed the incident occurred yesterday morning when the boat in which the family had gone fishing capsized in the Indian Ocean. Three crew-members and two Nairobi schoolboys are reported to have been rescued.
The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed this evening it had been contacted by the Kenyan authorities about the deaths. A spokesman for the department said he believed the woman was from Dublin and the family had been living in the city before the trip.
He said Kenyan navy divers were still searching for the missing child.
The names of the victims were not being released until the relatives had been contacted.
A report in Kenya’s Sunday Nation newspaper said the bodies of three tourists were taken to Diani Beach Hospital where a hospital spokesman confirmed that the three had died from drowning.
The newspaper reported a member of the rescue team as saying: "The boat was hit by an abnormally big wave and this apparently upset the boat within a split second."
"The boat capsized and is stuck in the coral reef. We are hoping that when the water ebbs we may be able to find the missing body," he added.
The family is understood to have been on holiday on the country’s south coast near Mombassa. They were said to be staying at the Indian Ocean Beach Club hotel.
