Police in Kenya have arrested a local woman there as part of the investigation into the death of the chief engineer of a South Korean fishing boat that was released last week after being held captive by Somali pirates.
The Kenyan woman in her 20s is suspected of having pushed Kim Yong-hyeon out of his room on the fourth floor of a hotel in Mombasa at 2:25 a.m. Thursday, local time.
A hotel employee told police that the Kenyan woman was heard arguing with the chief engineer of the “Geummi 305” on the day he died.
Police will continue to look into the case, as the suspect is denying her involvement in Kim’s death. Authorities are planning to indict the woman on charges of killing Kim on Monday at the earliest after securing more evidence.
The South Korean Embassy in Kenya will discuss the schedule of the funeral and the autopsy with the bereaved family as soon as they arrive in Mombasa.
The 241-ton Geummi 305 was released along with its 43 crew members, including two South Koreans on February ninth, 123 days after it was hijacked. The trawler was hijacked on October ninth last year while fishing for crab in waters near the Kenyan island of Lamu in the Indian Ocean. It arrived in Mombasa on Tuesday.