PHOTO: LUIS TATO / AFP
The number of people who have lost their lives in devastating floods in Kenya since March has risen to 188, with dozens still missing.
Torrential rains in Kenya and other countries in East Africa have caused havoc with deadly floods and landslides forcing people from their homes, destroying roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
"As a result, the country has regrettably recorded 188 fatalities due to severe weather conditions," the interior ministry said in a statement released on Thursday.
It added that 125 people had been reported injured and 90 people were currently missing, while 165,000 have been displaced.
On Wednesday, nearly 100 tourists were among people marooned after a river overflowed in Kenya's famed Maasai Mara wildlife reserve following a heavy downpour.
The ministry said rescuers had successfully evacuated 90 people by ground and air in the Masai Mara, where lodges and safari camps were flooded after the River Talek overflowed.
'WATERBORNE DISEASES'
The area is currently inaccessible with bridges washed away, Narok West sub-county administrator Stephen Nakola told AFP, adding that about 50 camps in the reserve have been affected, putting more than 500 locals temporarily out of work.
There are no fatalities but communities living around the area have been forced to move away.
"Accessing the Mara is now a nightmare and the people stuck there are really worried, they don't have an exit route," Nakola said, adding that waterborne diseases were likely to emerge.
"I am worried that the situation could get worse because the rains are still on."
In the deadliest single incident in Kenya, dozens of villagers were killed when a dam burst on Monday near Mai Mahiu in the Rift Valley, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi.
The interior ministry said 52 bodies had been recovered and 51 people were still missing after the dam disaster.
