By Our Reporter
At least 42 people have been confirmed dead, with several others still missing, after a dam burst iis banks near a town in Kenya’s Rift Valley, the local governor told news men on Monday, as heavy rains and floods battered the country.
The dam burst nearMai Mahiu in Nakuru county, washing away houses and cutting off a road, with rescuers digging through debris to find survivors.
”Forty-two dead, it’s a conservative estimate. There are still more in the mud, we are working on recovery ,” said Nakuru governor, Susan Kihika.
The Naivasha Police Commander, Stephen Kirul, confirmed that the police recovered 40 bodies from the debris while a major rescue operation is ongoing in Mai Mahiu area, about 60 kilometres north of Nairobi.
According to the Kenyan Police Commander, the police authority have collected 40 bodies so far noting that mud had covered many more while floodwater submerged many. He said emergency responders rushed more than 100 people to the hospital following the tragedy.
Flash floods have submerged roads and neighbourhoods in the country, leading to the displacement of more than 130,000 people across 24,000 households, many of them in the capital Nairobi, according to government figures released Saturday.
Schools have been forced to remain shut following mid-term holidays, after the education ministry announce on Monday that it would postpone their reopening by one week due to ”ongoing heavy rains.”
”The devastating effects of the rains in some of the schools is so severe that it will be imprudent to risk the lives of learners and staff before water-tight measure are put in place to ensure adequate safety,” says Kenyan’s Education Minister, Ezekiel Machogu.
Meanwhile, the Kenyan Red Cross Society said on Monday it had retrieved two bodies after a boat carrying ”a large number of people” capsized at the weekend in flooded Tana River county in eastern Kenya, adding that 23 others had been rescued.
