70,000 Affected by Flooding in Kenya
The torrential rains across several parts of Kenya, including in some of its most visited natural parks, left hundreds of people homeless and required helicopter evacuations of tourists.
"Six people have been killed since yesterday. Three of them were washed away by floods in Nakuru while the three others were killed in Marsabit," a senior police officer told AFP.
"Those killed in Marsabit are young children who were washed away as they played in an open field in Dukana area," he added.
Kenya Red Cross officials said up to 100 houses remained submerged in the Garbatula region of Eastern Province and nearly 500 people were homeless.
"We have received reports of people missing and over 2,000 cattle heads washed away. People have been advised to move to higher grounds because we don't know how soon the rains will go away," the senior police officer said.
"These are tourists who were booked in hotels within Samburu and Isiolo, they are all safe because they have been moved out of the hotels to safety," he added. "They were airlifted to safety by helicopters."
Several other regions of eastern Africa, including Tanzania and Somalia, have been hit by torrential rains and floods in recent days.
In eastern Uganda, some 300 people are feared dead following a huge mudslide on Monday. Fewer than 90 bodies have so far been retrieved as continued rain complicated the rescue operation.
From AFP