Seven stuck in Machakos flood waters rescued

The operations to save residents whose homes had been marooned by flood waters following the ongoing heavy downpour successfully ended early Monday.

Athi River deputy county commissioner Patrick Mwangi said the operations ended after the seven victims who had still been trapped in marooned areas were rescued.

Mwangi said the seven were the last victims to be rescued, majority had been moved to safety by 10.00 pm Sunday.

He said the seven were rescued by villagers with the coordination of Kinanie chief Josephat Musinga.

"The seven people who were still stuck in the marooned Nyaani village have all been rescued. Villagers rescued them with coordination of the area chief after the Waters significantly subsided," Mwangi told the Star by phone on Monday.

Mwangi said the multiagency rescue operations team had planned to resume the operations this morning after they adjourned them on Sunday at 10.00 pm due to darkness that also exposed the rescuers' lives to danger.

"We had planned to resume the rescue operations this morning. Fortunately, the chief mobilised villagers and the seven were rescued at 3.00 am Monday, all are safe now," Mwangi said.

The area has since been condoned and all villagers accounted for.

On Sunday, 18 others were rescued in the boat rescue operations.

Athi River East subcounty police commander Anderson Mbae said all the victims had been accounted for and were out of danger.

Some were moved to Kinanie Primary School where they have currently squatted while others were taken in by friends and relatives within the neighbourhood.

"They were 25 in number. Yesterday we rescued 18 before villagers rescued seven others in the wee hours of Monday," Mbae said.

The victims included women, children and elderly.

The multi-agency team involved in the operations included the Kenya Red Cross, Kenya Police Service, Machakos County Government and National Disaster Management Unit.

Mwangi said the village was marooned after River Athi broke its banks on Sunday night.