Three church members drown at Shella Beach in Lamu

Three members of a church drowned as they partied at the Shella Beach, Lamu County.

Police and other officials said they had retrieved two bodies of the victims and that efforts to trace the third one were ongoing.

The missing victim is a man aged 18.

The group had come to Lamu Island for a benchmarking exercise when the incident happened on Sunday, police said.

They then decided to venture into the Indian Ocean at the Shella Beach, where they drowned.

There were about 20 members at the beach at the time of the incident, witnesses said.

The Kenya Coast Guard, in collaboration with the Red Cross and county officers, managed to recover two bodies of the students, while one remains missing.

The three drowned after being hit by strong waves.

The bodies were taken to a local mortuary as the search for the third one continues.

Officials have enhanced patrols on the beaches to address rising cases of drowning.

Some of the victims are visitors to the sites and have no swimming experience, police said.

Meanwhile, a 45-year-old man was found dead in a suspected murder incident in Kizingitini’s Myabogi sub-location, Lamu County.

Police officers visited the scene and found the body of Hassan Ali Mohamed lying with multiple cuts on his body with his left palm chopped off.

The motive of the incident was not immediately established.

Police said they recovered a panga, a knife, and a bottle of water at the scene.

No arrest was made in connection with the murder.

Police said on Tuesday that they are pursuing good leads into the murder.

The body was moved to Faza Sub-County Hospital for a postmortem examination and further processes.

Police suspect the murder could be linked to land deals.

Cases of murder linked to land issues have been on the rise in the area amid efforts to solve them.

Some of the cases are pending investigation.