Rescue teams searched on Monday for 13 people missing after weekend landslides buried a village in western Kenya but a humanitarian worker said it was unlikely they would be found alive.
”We don’t hold out any hope of finding survivors,” said Tony Mwangi, a spokesperson for the Kenya Red Cross.
”This is just a retrieval operation now, and we expect to be still digging for remains in a week’s time.”
Four bodies have been recovered and 65 people were admitted to hospitals after Saturday’s rare landslides.
Local television reports showed helpless villagers looking on as rescue workers dug through thick brown mire covering the remains of grass-thatched huts that had stood on steep hillsides, trying to find the 13 people buried beneath the mud.
One landslide struck sleeping villagers early on Saturday and a second buried others who had rushed to their rescue.
The community has been evacuated as 40 volunteers dig under constant threat of more landslides, Mwangi said.
”There were two more minor slides yesterday [Sunday] as the operation continued. The site is very unstable and still very, very dangerous,” he added.
Landslides are rare in western Kenya and were the result of a few days of wild rain combined with underground streams that loosened the soil, he said. — Reuters