As many as 21 people were killed after heavy rains struck western Kenya on Friday, triggering landslides, officials said on Sunday.
Kenyan Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said that, besides 21 confirmed deaths, some 30 more were reported missing by their families in the tragedy that struck the Marakwet East County. The rescuers began searching for the missing persons on Sunday morning after pausing the operation for the night.
In a post on X, Murkomen said that some 25 people were seriously injured due to the landslide and were later airlifted to the western city of Eldoret for treatment, while those having minor injuries were treated locally.
The landslides caused heavy damage to civil and government infrastructure, including the key road network, further hampering the rescue operations in the affected regions. Authorities in Kenya have deployed military and police helicopters to intensify rescue operations in the affected parts of the country.
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Murkomen said authorities were making arrangements to provide relief items to the victims and restore the road network.
"I urge people living near seasonal rivers and areas that experienced landslides last night to move to safer ground," Murkomen wrote. Kenya is prone to floods. Several floods have struck the country in recent years, causing hundreds of deaths with significant destruction.
Experts have blamed the recent intensification of the floods reported across multiple countries on climate change and the overall increase of carbon emissions in the atmosphere owing to increased industrialised activities.
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