At least 45 people have killed and several more are still missing after a dam collapsed in western Kenya early on Monday, according to the interior ministry. The wall of water slammed through homes and blocked off a key route.
According to police officer Stephen Kirui, the Old Kijabe Dam fell and water poured downstream, dragging with it dirt, boulders, and uprooted trees. The dam is located in the flash-flooded Mai Mahiu district of the Great Rift Valley region.
Susan Kihika, Governor of Nakuru County has been visiting affected areas and told onlookers, “we are currently going around to all our dams and draining the water so that this doesn’t happen again.”
Vehicles were entangled in the debris on one of Kenya’s busiest highways and paramedics treated the injured as waters submerged large areas.
