Many killed in Kenya flooding – Red cross

About 50 people have died in Kenya in a deluge following heavy rains and flooding, a Red Cross official has said.

People in villages near Mai Mahiu, about 60km (37 miles) from the capital, Nairobi, were swept away as they slept.

Rescue efforts are continuing to pull people out of the mud, with fears that the death toll could rise.

More than 100 people have been killed in floods that have devastated parts of Kenya in the last month.

A wide brown scar of mud, uprooted trees and crushed houses slices through the area of Mai Mahiu.

A roaring sound woke people up in the early hours of Monday as a tide of water crashed down from upriver.

Residents spoke of a night of frantic efforts to pull people out of the raging flood and dig them out of the mud.

Deden Muiri, 60, said he heard the roar and saw lightening flash. But before he had time to think he was up to his neck in water.

He saw the flood take his wife and was swept in the opposite direction.

Convinced he was going to die, Mr Muiri said a quiet goodbye to his family.

Miraculously though, he was able to grab a tree branch and clung to life by hanging on.

One of his daughters knows how to swim, he said, and was able to rescue two of his grandchildren.

The Kenya Red Cross has joined search and rescue operations, with its emergency response manager, Anthony Muchiri, telling the BBC that the death toll has risen to 50.

“This is the worst I’ve ever come across in my career,” he said, adding that not only were people’s homes swept away, but also their foundations.

Of the bodies recovered so far, 17 were of children, Police Commander, Stephen Kirui said, cited by Reuters news agency.

The sudden wave of floodwater was initially attributed to a nearby burst dam by local officials.

However, the Kenyan Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation said on Monday evening that the incident occurred as a result of a tunnel which channels the River Tongi under a railway line becoming blocked with “debris, stones, trees and soil” during the recent downpours.

This prevented water flowing through it to move downstream, leading to a pool of water suddenly sweeping over the railway line, the ministry said in a statement.

“The area has no dam and the only dam upstream in a different tributary is the Matches Dam which is in good condition and stable,” it added.

The small villages of Kamuchiri and Kianugu were among those that bore the brunt of the disaster.