Families displaced as landslide flattens houses

A man at a scene where a landslide occured at Gichira village in Nyeri county after a heavy downpour in the area on April 15, 2914. 15 families were affected by the incident with the area DC Harman Shambi authorizing them to move to Gichira Polytechnic which is a higher ground to avoid loss of lives. Photo/JOSEPH KANYI

What you need to know:

  • Denis Dereva, 18, escaped death narrowly after a one-room timber house he was sleeping in was destroyed.
  • Other houses were left with huge cracks. Tetu sub-county deputy commissioner Harman Shambi has advised the families to seek refuge at a nearby polytechnic until the rains subside.

More than 15 families from Kiangacha in Tetu have been displaced by landslide that hit the village yesterday morning.

Denis Dereva, 18, escaped death narrowly after a one-room timber house he was sleeping in was destroyed.

Dereva, who is a Form Four student at Gichira Secondary School, said he heard a loud bang before he found himself on the floor.

His bed was shattered by the timber wall that was brought down by the mud.

“I was shaking while still on the ground trying to figure out what was going on. It was then that I saw huge heap of wet mud inside my house and my bed in pieces,” he said.

UNSAFE GROUNDS

The boy was rescued by his neighbours who responded to his distress call.

The neighbours broke the door and rescued him.

Other houses were left with huge cracks. Tetu sub-county deputy commissioner Harman Shambi has advised the families to seek refuge at a nearby polytechnic until the rains subside.

“We will not allow anyone to sleep here again until we confirm the grounds are safe,” he said.

The Red Cross assistant  secretary-general in charge of Upper Eastern and Central, Mr Gerald Bomby Nyeri County government staff visited the affected families and donated food  and clothing.

They also provided kitchen sets, mosquito nets and tents.

Mr Bomby advised those living in steep grounds in Murang’a, Mukurwe-ini and Othaya to move to safer grounds.