Kenyan dam burst causes 'huge destruction of both life and property', local governor says
Updated
A dam has burst its banks in Kenya's Rift Valley, killing at least 27 people and forcing hundreds from their homes, officials said.
Water burst through the banks of the Patel Dam in Solai, Nakuru County, on Wednesday night, sweeping away hundreds of homes, including those on the expansive Nyakinyua Farm, which borders the reservoir.
"We have recovered 27 bodies and many people are missing. It is a disaster," Rongai police chief Joseph Kioko said.
A rescue operation by Kenya Red Cross and Nakuru County disaster management teams went into operation and up to 40 people have been rescued from the mud and taken to hospitals.
Many are feared still trapped.
"The water has caused huge destruction of both life and property," Nakuru's governor Lee Kinyajui said in a statement.
"The extent of the damage has yet to be ascertained."
Local resident Desmond Gitonyi said an entire village was swept away.
Mr Gitonyi, who lives close to the village, posted photos the following morning of families searching through pools of mud.
Mr Gitonyi said there was panic at the scene and at the Nakuru Hospital as people searched for their missing loved ones.
Concrete foundations were the only thing left behind as entire houses had been swept away.
"The Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has just arrived at the scene," Mr Gitonyi said.
"The rescue mission is still underway."
Officials said the dam water and mud spilt out of the reservoir, 190 kilometres north-west of the capital, and submerged homes, extending to a radius of nearly two kilometres.
Kenya, like other countries in East Africa, has experienced heavy rain over the past two months.
The government said the rain had killed 132 people and displaced 222,456 people in 32 counties since March.
Reuters
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, kenya
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