A dam burst in Kamuchiri Village Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County has killed at least 42 more people, the country governor Susan Kihika has confirmed.
The dam burst its banks near a town in Kenya’s Rift Valley on Monday, April 29, following heavy rains and floods affecting the country.
The dam burst washed away residences and washed 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,” Governor Kihika explained.
The dam’s collapse raises the total death toll over the March-May rainy season to 120 as unusual rainfall pounds East Africa, worsened by the El Niño weather pattern.
In a related development, the Kenya Red Cross said it had recovered 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.
On Saturday, officials said 76 people lost their lives in Kenya since March. Flash floods have submerged roads and neighbourhoods, leading to the displacement of more than 130,000 people across 24,000 households, many of them in the capital Nairobi, according to official figures released Saturday.
Schools have been forced to remain shut following mid-term holidays after the education ministry announced Monday that it would postpone their reopening by one week due to “ongoing heavy rains.”
