MUKURWEINI, Kenya, May 5 – A landslide occurred in Mukurweini, in Central Province early on Wednesday killing two people bringing the number of those killed by landslides in the country to 14 since Saturday, the police and Kenya Red Cross officials said.
The landslides follow heavy rains in various parts of the country which have caused massive destruction of crops and houses.
In the Wednesday incident, dozens of houses were reported to have been buried by the landslide which occurred at Giatuku division.
Kenya Red Cross Spokesman Titus Mung’ou told Capital News that rescuers had managed to pull out two bodies – a man aged 19 and a woman, 20 – from a house that was buried in the mud.
“The rescue efforts are still going on but so far, we can confirm the deaths of two people whose bodies have been pulled out,” Mr Mung’ou said.
There were no immediate reports of missing persons.
“Our emergency team from Nyeri is at the site assisting in the rescue efforts.”
Police Headquarters said it had received the information “but it is too scanty”.
“There was a landslide in Mukurweini, two people have been killed and the rescue efforts are still going on. There is little we can say at this point,” a senior officer at the Police Commissioner’s office said.
At the weekend, some 12 people were killed in Marakwet East District after a landslide buried dozens of houses in the remote village of Kitony in Tot division.
Several other people were wounded in the incident which left hundreds of other villages homeless.
“One more body has been recovered from the landslide site in Marakwet district, this brings the death toll to 12,” Mr Mung’ou said.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s office said the government was planning to relocate people from areas prone to landslide disasters.
It did not however, state the alternative sites.
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