Three killed as wall collapses in raging floods

By PATRICK BEJA

KENYA: Two children and a man have been reportedly killed as a week-long torrential rains and floods left hundreds of residents homeless at the Coast. Mariam Mbwana, 8, died at Munje village in Msambweni on Tuesday after a perimeter wall collapsed on her. Her brother sustained injuries.

“I was at home after coming from a funeral when I was told by a neighbour that a wall had fallen on the children and when I went there I found the girl dead. Her brother was injured,” said Suleiman Bakari, Mariam’s uncle.

He said the victims’ parents were not at home when the perimeter wall of a local hotel caved in due to heavy rains and strong winds. Earlier in the day, another child succumbed to the weight of collapsing house in Mbungoni in Mombasa.

Meanwhile aid agencies reported that last Saturday a man was killed by a roaming crocodile in Tana River County after the river burst its banks.  In Mombasa County, several residential areas were flooded including houses and toilets causing havoc.

The floods left Kenya’s second largest city choking with rotting garbage as the county authorities struggled to end the compelling stench.

Mombasa Governor Hassan Ali Joho has formed a disaster management team to mitigate the devastating floods.

“Due to the ongoing long rains, I have constituted a disaster management committee,” Joho said.