The Kenyan government has confirmed that 21 people have died following a landslide in the west of the country following heavy rains.
Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said the bodies were transferred to a nearby airstrip after the landslide in Marakwet East on Friday evening.
He told X that more than 30 people were still missing after being reported missing by their families, while 25 seriously injured people had been airlifted to receive further medical treatment.
The Kenya Red Cross, which is helping coordinate relief efforts, said the worst-hit areas are still inaccessible by road due to mudslides and flash flooding.
The Kenyan government suspended search and rescue operations on Saturday evening, but announced they would resume on Sunday.
“Preparations to provide more food and non-food items to the victims are underway,” Murkomen said, adding: “Military and police helicopters are on standby to transport the items.”
Kenya is in its second rainy season, where it typically experiences a few weeks of wet weather, compared to a heavier and more prolonged period earlier in the year.
The government urged residents living near seasonal rivers as well as areas hit by landslides on Friday to move to safer places.
Meanwhile, flash floods and landslides in Uganda, near the border with Kenya, have killed a number of people since last Wednesday.
On Saturday, the Uganda Red Cross Society said another mudslide occurred in the eastern village of Kapsomo, destroying a house and killing four people inside.
The Red Cross said the floods had seriously affected most villages near river banks in Bulambuli district.
He said continued heavy rains had caused the Astiri and Sipi rivers to overflow, leading to widespread destruction of houses, crop fields and community infrastructure.
