Kenyan landslide death toll rises to 26 as flash floods hamper search for survivors

NAIROBI, Kenya — The death toll from a deadly landslide in western Kenya has risen to 26 after four more bodies were retrieved on Sunday, shortly before rescue efforts to find survivors were suspended due to a flash flood.

Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said 25 people are still missing and that the government had intensified the search mission, with the military deploying four aircrafts to help teams access the area that has been completely cut off after roads were washed away during Saturday’s landslide.

On Sunday, search teams had to abandon the site after flash floods from a hill in the Chesongoch area in Kenya’s Rift Valley region.

Heavy rains continue across Kenya, and floods have been reported in several counties, displacing thousands of people.

The government has urged those living in flood or landslide prone areas to move, as the rains are expected to continue across the country.

Murkomen said the government would continue airlifting supplies to those affected, including to 15 schools that have been cut off, and that ongoing national examination papers would be airlifted to candidates.

He said the government would cover the medical bills of more than 30 injured people and resettle dozens of others whose homes were swept away.

“It is very sad that families have lost five to six immediate family members,” the minister said Sunday.

Oscar Okum, regional manager for the Kenya Red Cross, said the Rift Valley area was still susceptible to land slides.

“Today, while we were doing search and recovery and rescue, we have had roads that are already opened being populated again by mudslides. So it’s still an active incidence and we urge the community members to move to safer grounds for purposes of their safety, lives and livelihoods as well,” he said.

Musambi writes for the Associated Press.