Dozens have been confirmed dead in Kenya after a dam overflowed due to heavy rainfall, Nakuru County Governor announced.
The walls of Patel Dam, located on a large commercial farm at the top of a hill in Nakuru County, 190 kilometers northwest of Nairobi, collapsed late last night at a local dinner. The bodies of two women were found many kilometers away.
According to the governor, 450 houses were affected and a total of 2.000 people were affected by the natural disaster. The Kenyan Red Cross announced that it has rescued 39 people so far.
The waters swept away power poles, houses and other buildings, including an elementary school, a Reuters photographer on the ground said.
Hundreds of people have been left homeless, while according to the authorities the amount of material damage is still unclear. A search and rescue operation is under way as fears are expressed about dozens trapped in the muddy waters that reached a distance of almost two kilometers.
With the latest accident, the total number of people who have lost their lives in the country due to the floods from the heavy rains that started in March, reached 160, according to the website of the radio station Capital FM.
East Africa, which was hit by a severe drought last year, has been experiencing heavy rainfall for the past two months, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
After last year's severe drought, East Africa has been hit by heavy rains in the past two months, affecting the lives of nearly one million people in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Uganda as bridges have collapsed and roads have been torn down. in mud rivers.
The cost of disasters is in the millions of dollars.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says 580.000 people have been affected by rains and floods in neighboring Somalia and 160.000 in eastern Somalia.