A mother threw her eight-month-old baby into the ocean from a ferry, prompting a frantic life-saving operation.

Police say the woman tossed the child overboard into the Indian Ocean from the Likoni ferry in the Kenyan city of Mombasa on Sunday 3 December.

Officers say the vessel was docked at a quayside loading passengers when the distressing incident happened, prompting panic onboard and on shore.

“[The baby] was rushed for first aid at the Red Cross Centre, treated and discharged in fair condition and her mother taken to the police station for interrogation,” reads a report filed at the Ferry Police Station, cited by local press network, Citizen Digital.

The infant was saved by brave coast guards and onlookers who jumped to her rescue, said the news website Pulse Kenya.

The Kenya Red Cross released a statement on the incident, confirming that the baby was saved and taken to their rescue centre.

Posting on X/formerly known as Twitter, the KRC said: “Heroic intervention at the Likoni ferry crossing. An 8-month-old child, miraculously saved after a distressing incident in the Indian Ocean, is now safe at the Kenya Red Cross rescue centre”.

Video apparently showing the alleged incident went viral on social media, and depicts people swimming with floats racing to save the sinking tot before hoisting them out of the water.

Local media reports say Kenyans have been appalled by the incident, demanding the mum face criminal charges – and a lengthy prison sentence – for her actions.

The Likoni Ferry is a ferry service across Kilindini Harbour, serving the Kenyan city of Mombasa between Mombasa Island and the mainland suburb of Likoni. Double-ended ferries alternate across the harbour, carrying both road and foot traffic.