NAIROBI, Kenya
Floods and landslides across Kenya have killed 181 people since March, with hundreds of thousands forced to leave their homes, the government and Red Cross said on Wednesday, as dozens more were killed in neighbouring Tanzania and Burundi.
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.
In the central Kenyan town of
Mai Mahiu, where at least 48 died in flash floods on Monday, two bodies were
recovered from the debris on Wednesday, Kenya Red Cross South Rift Regional
Manager Felix Maiyo said.
Military personnel accompanied
by sniffer dogs had joined the search, Maiyo said. Earlier on Wednesday,
government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said the total death toll had risen by 10
to 179.
Last year’s rains followed the
worst drought in large parts of East Africa in decades.
In Kitengela, 33 km (20 miles)
from Nairobi, Kenya Red Cross workers were helping to rescue residents whose
homes were marooned by flood waters.
They were also trying to
rescue tourists trapped at camps in Narok, 215 km from Nairobi, the Kenya Red
Cross said on social media platform X.
Kenya’s national highways
authority said it had closed a section of a highway leading to the city and at
least three other roads across the country due to flooding and debris.
The disaster prompted Pope
Francis to speak out in sympathy with Kenyans during a general audience on
Wednesday at the Vatican.
“I … wish to express to the
people of Kenya my spiritual closeness at this time as severe flooding has
tragically taken the lives of many of our brothers and sisters, injured others
and caused widespread destruction,” he said.
The White House on Wednesday
extended condolences to victims’ families and said the United States is
contributing to response efforts through the U.S. Agency for International
Development.
“We continue to offer our
continued and resolute support to all who have been impacted and are closely
monitoring the situation,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told
reporters at a briefing.
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