TL;DR
- A landslide in western Kenya has resulted in at least 26 fatalities and 25 people reported missing, following heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding.
- Rescue efforts have been hindered by ongoing flash floods, prompting the government to airlift supplies, including national exam papers, to inaccessible areas.
- Authorities warn that the Rift Valley remains at risk for further landslides, urging residents in vulnerable regions to seek safer locations amid continuing adverse weather.
At least 26 people dead after Kenya landslide | World News
At least 26 people have died and 25 others are still missing after a landslide in western Kenya during heavy rains.
The government has stepped up the search mission, with four military planes deployed to help access the area that has been completely cut off after roads were washed away in devastating floods on Saturday.
But rescue efforts were suspended on Sunday after flash floods from a hill in the Chesongoch area in Kenya‘s Rift Valley region.
Heavy rains are continuing across the country, with floods reported in several counties, and thousands of people displaced.
The Kenyan government is urging anyone living in areas prone to flooding or landslides to move as the wet weather is expected to continue.
Interior minister Kipchumba Murkomen said supplies will be airlifted to affected areas, including 15 schools that have been cut off, where national exam papers will also be flown in.
He said the government will pay the medical bills of more than 30 injured people and resettle dozens of others whose homes have been swept away.
Oscar Okum, regional manager for the Kenya Red Cross, said the Rift Valley area was still susceptible to landslides.
“Today, while we were doing search and recovery and rescue, we have had roads that are already opened being populated again by mudslides,” he said.
“So it’s still an active incidence and we urge the community members to move to safer grounds for purposes of their safety, lives and livelihoods as well.”
Hundreds of people have been killed in recent years in landslides and flooding in Kenya, with scientists saying climate change is causing more intense and frequent extreme weather events.
In the worst incident last year, 61 people were killed in a mudslide and flash floods in central Kenya.
Landslides in the east of neighbouring Uganda have also killed at least 13 people in the last week, according to the Uganda Red Cross.