Hundreds of passengers stranded after ferry stalls in Mbita

Hundreds passengers were on Tuesday evening stranded for more than four hours at the Mbita ferry terminal in Homa Bay County after the ramp malfunctioned.

The passengers were heading to Luanda K'Otieno in Siaya County from Mbita mainland before the ramp belonging to Mbita Ferry Services became faulty with passengers on board.

The ferry also carried at least 13 cars whose owners were crossing over to Siaya County.

According to Mbita Ferry Services manager Bernard Siro, the ramp became faulty when passengers were still boarding the ferry at the terminal after one of the chains used to control it broke down.

Mr. Siro said the incident occurred when they were still at the terminal before the vessel could set off for Luanda Kotieno.

He noted that they had to delay the journey for several hours to find alternatives since they could not allow the ferry to continue with the faulty ramp as it posed a risk to the passengers.

Mr. Siro further noted that they were forced to use two other vessels to ferry the passengers as they repaired the faulty ramp.

No injury or death was reported from the incident, however.