Death toll rises in Kenya amid ongoing evacuations due to floods
Floods and landslides across Kenya have killed more than 170 people since March, with hundreds of thousands forced to leave their homes, the Kenyan government and Red Cross said on Wednesday, as dozens more were killed in neighbouring Tanzania and Burundi.
The latest incident occurred when a river broke its banks in the Maasai Mara reserve on Wednesday morning. The reserve, in southwestern Kenya, is a popular tourist destination because it features the annual wildebeest migration from the Serengeti in Tanzania.
Local official Stephen Nakola told the AFP news agency that “approximately 100 or more tourists” as well as workers had been marooned by the flooding.
Meanwhile, search and rescue operations across Mai Mahiu continue, local people say rescue efforts have been slow due to a lack of equipment to dig through the debris.
The government has urged people living in flood-prone areas to evacuate or be moved forcefully as water levels in two hydroelectric dams have risen to a “historic high”.
Torrential rain and floods have destroyed homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure across the region. The death toll in Kenya exceeds that from floods triggered by the El Nino weather phenomenon late last year.
