What you need to know:
The revellers mingled freely without observing the Covid-19 containment measures.
The party, however came with its own hiccups as eight children were reported missing at the Nyali Beach.
Hundreds of Kenyans Friday thronged public beaches in Mombasa to celebrate Christmas.

The sea of humanity spread from Nyali Beach to the Jomo Kenyatta Public Beach despite the Covid-19 scare.

The revellers mingled at the beach without observing the coronavirus containment measures including wearing of face masks and maintaining social distance.

It was a beehive of activity on the entire shoreline as the holidaymakers enjoyed themselves.

Likoni Mall
The new Likoni mall in Mombasa Island where many families spent their time during Christmas.

Mohamed Ahmed | Nation Media Group
The party, however came with its own hiccups as eight children were reported missing at the Nyali Beach.

The beach community security leader Babu Mkajire said a number of children went missing because of the huge crowd which turned up at the beach.

“We did not expect so many people. We thought they would be afraid of coronavirus, but we are happy people have come to celebrate and business is booming here at the beach,” said Mr Mkajire who is also in charge of business at the beach.


In Mombasa Central Business District, other revellers flocked the new Likoni Mall and at the Mama Ngina Waterfront to mark the day.

The merrymakers hanged out with their families and friends as they took pictures of themselves at the new mall.

Likoni floating bridge
NYS personnel prepare to lead the first walk across Likoni's floating bridge on December 25, 2020.

Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
“We are so impressed to see families happy. We have received a big number of people today. There is traffic that we did not expect because this is a new facility,” said Mr Hamza Karama, the Likoni Mall’s marketing official.

At the Mama Ngina Waterfront, tourists could be seen enjoying coconut water (madafu) and crisps as they enjoyed the breeze near the Likoni Channel.

The channel was also fairly crowded as people crossed from Mombasa to the South Coast for the celebrations.

A section of the Likoni residents earlier in the day used the Likoni floating bridge which was opened to them for few hours.

The resident had a first-hand experience of using the newly built floating bridge.

The residents crossed the Sh1.9 billion bridge to from Mombasa Island to meet their relatives and friends.

amohamed@ke.nationmedia.com

https://nation.africa/kenya/counties/mombasa/hundreds-flock-mombasa-beaches-to-celebrate-christmas-3239606