Two girls killed, 97 families homeless after heavy rains
Onlookers on March 18, 2018 at the spot where the body of a girl was found in Makueni. She had been swept away by floodwater the previous night. PHOTO | PIUS MAUNDU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Heavy rains in Makueni on Saturday night caused flooding and the girls were swept away from their homes.
- One girl's mother and her neighbours searched their and neighbouring farms for hours but they did not find the girl.
- Heavy rains have caused flooding in several parts of the country.
- It has resulted in deaths, injuries and loss of property.
Two children were killed and 97 families left homeless after heavy rains left a trail of destruction in Makueni County on Saturday night.
The bodies of two four-year-old girls were collected on two waterways on Sunday.
FLOODED
Ndanu Mwenga and Rhoda Mutambu were swept away from their homes in Musingini and Makutano villages, following heavy rains that caused the area to flood.
“A neighbour alerted me before the rains subsided that he had seen two of my daughters sheltering from the rain without their younger sister and this prompted me to rush home in the rains,” said Ms Josephine Kamanthe, the mother of Rhoda.
Ms Kamanthe, who works as a househelp in a neighbouring home, found that her youngest daughter had been swept away by a rivulet that had formed in a nearby path.
A woman assesses damage caused by heavy rains at Kamboo Village in Makueni County on March 18, 2018. PHOTO | PIUS MAUNDU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
FOUND
Ms Kamanthe and her neighbours searched the compound and neighbouring farms for hours but they did not find the girl.
On Sunday morning, a passer-by found the girls’ bodies deposited by storm water on the roadside, several kilometres from their homes.
Police collected the two bodies and took them to Makindu Sub-County Hospital mortuary.
Makindu Assistant County Commissioner Ooko Ayumba cautioned residents against leaving children home alone during the rainy season.
Heavy rains have caused flooding in several parts of the country. It has resulted in deaths, injuries and loss of property.
