41 killed in Kenya as earthwork dam bursts and floods homes

AT LEAST 41 people have died after a dam burst in central Kenya, police said yesterday.

Residents described muddy water roaring through their homes in what one survivor called “hell on earth”.

Twenty of the dead were children. The search for more victims was continuing yesterday.

The privately owned dam, which was used for irrigation and fish farming in Solai near the Rift Valley city of Nakuru, burst its earthwork banks on Wednesday evening after weeks of heavy rain.

The water wiped out two villages and swept away power lines, a local resident said.

Gideon Kibunjah, the regional police chief, told AFP: “We have 41 people dead. It is a disaster because most people were asleep when the tragedy occurred and their houses were swept away.”

He said 36 victims were in hospital. After a severe drought, weeks of torrential rains in Kenya have caused flooding and mudslides which have left 172 people dead.

Government statistics released on Wednesday said that more than 220,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.

Since March, at least 21,000 acres of farmland have been submerged and an estimated 20,000 animals have been killed, the Red Cross said last week.

The floods have destroyed roads in parts of the country, and military helicopters have been used to airlift people from their flooded houses.