Couple and their baby killed by landslide

A couple and their son were yesterday buried alive after their house collapsed, following heavy rains that caused landslides in Taita Hills, Taita-Taveta County.

Ernest Mwasi, 40, Renine Mwasi, 27 and 11-month-old Rendon were asleep in the house when the tragedy struck on Thursday morning in Kighombo-Kabalenyi village, Mwatate Sub-county.

The couple was survived by their three-year-old daughter who had spent the night at her grandparents’ house.

“The house in which the family was sleeping in was buried by landslides from the hills that hit the area following heavy rains,” said Sub-county Police Commander Monica Kimani.

The deaths bring to five the people who have recently been killed by landslides in the area and more than 2,400 others displaced by flash floods.

An 11-year-old boy and a 36-year-old man died in December last year as heavy rains pounded Taita Hills and other parts of the county.

The man died when a shop he had been sheltering in collapsed and five other people escaped with injuries.