Nairobi: The death toll from landslides triggered by heavy rains in northwestern Kenya has risen to at least 60 while seven others remain missing, Kenyan authorities said on Sunday.
Five people were killed when the car they were travelling in was swept away after a river overflowed its banks. Among the 55 others killed, at least seven are children.
"We have never experienced or encountered tragedies that we saw last night," West Pokot Governor John Krop Lonyang'apuo told.
The landslide began around 2:30 am on Saturday in West Pokot County near the Ugandan border causing massive destruction to infrastructures like bridges and roads, the President's office said.
The government has deployed military and police choppers to assist in the rescue of people feared trapped in mud and other debris. Local officials are overseeing the evacuation of the remaining victims of the landslides as relief agencies provide emergency aid to displaced families.
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