By Paul Gitau
Narok,Kenya: Other reports indicate that five people have been killed by floods in Coast province as rains pound
A four-year-old boy died while his parents sustained serious injuries after their house was destroyed by a landslide at Sintakara village in Narok North.
And reports from the Kenya Red Cross (KRC) indicate that floods in Coast Province have in the past three weeks claimed the lives of five people and displaced close to 45,000 others.
The Narok North tragedy on Sunday comes less than four days after two boys who were sleeping in a makeshift structure at Oluturot village in Naibor Ajijik area were buried alive after mud destroyed their house. Their mother, who was sleeping in another house, escaped unhurt.
Narok’s KRC Coordinator Ali Juma said mud covered the house as the boy and his parents were sleeping at 5am. He added that efforts by villagers to rescue the boy were fruitless, as he was already dead when his body was retrieved.
COVERED WITH MUD
“Mud covered the house in which the boy and his parents were sleeping, killing him while his parents sustained serious injuries,” said Juma.
And in Coast, KRC, which is coordinating relief and rescue efforts in the six counties, said the displaced were living in deplorable conditions in schools and makeshift camps and were in need of urgent assistance.
Heavy rains have been pounding parts of the province, especially in Taita/Taveta and Mombasa counties. But most of the devastation in Kilifi and Tana River counties, which are arid, has been caused by flooding of rivers Sabaki and Tana as well as other rivers by upstream waters in the hinterland.
Three people died in Bura when their house that was built on the bed of a seasonal river was washed away two weeks ago, according to a report which also indicates that two other victims drowned last week in Magarini District.
