The Kenyan government has confirmed that 21 individuals have died after a landslide in the western region of the country after the torrential rain.

On the evening of Friday, 31 October, the landslide in Marakwet East moved the bodies to an airstrip near. Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen reported that the landslide had relocated the bodies to a nearby airstrip.

He remarked on X that over 30 individuals were yet to be found after being reported missing by their relatives, and 25 individuals suffering severe injuries were airlifted to get additional medical care.

The Kenyan Red Cross, which is assisting in coordinating rescue efforts, indicated that the most affected regions could not be reached via road because of mudslides and flash flooding.

The Kenyan government put a halt to the search and rescue operation on Saturday evening but indicated that it would restart on Sunday.

“Preparation to deliver more food and non-food relief material to the victims is in progress,” said Murkomen, “adding that military and police choppers are on stand-by to deliver the material.”

Kenya is still in the second rainy season, whereby it normally has a few weeks of wet climate as opposed to a heavier, more prolonged one earlier in the year.

The government has also encouraged those who live near seasonal rivers and other spots that suffered landslides on Friday to vacate the trenches.

Meanwhile, in Uganda, the border region with Kenya, flash floods and landslides have killed a few individuals since last Wednesday.

On Saturday, the Uganda Red Cross reported that another mudslide had happened in Kapsomo village in the east of the country, destroying a house and killing four people inside.

The Red Cross reported that most of the villages along riverbanks in the Bulambuli District were badly hit by floods.

It reported that there had been unrelenting heavy rain, which had led to the overflowing of the River Astiri and the River Sipi, causing extensive devastation in homes, fields, and communal structures.

The Red Cross estimates that the Kenya floods killed 50 people.