Floodwaters kill woman and her baby in Homa Bay Town

By  BARACK ODUOR

What you need to know:

  • The search for the mother's body stalled due to lack of appropriate equipment and it was suspended when darkness set in.
  • The woman's body is believed to have been swept into Lake Victoria.
  • The other eight passengers survived the incident, but some were suspected to be in shock and were taken to hospital.

A woman and her child were killed on Sunday after they were swept away by floodwaters in Homa Bay Town.

This follows heavy rains in the town.

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OCPD Essau Ochorokodi said the body of the child had been retrieved.

Search teams from the county disaster department and the Kenya Red Cross helped in efforts to find and retrieve the bodies.

But the search stalled due to lack of appropriate equipment and it was suspended when darkness set in.

The woman's body is believed to have been swept into Lake Victoria.

The mother and her child were in a matatu travelling from Migori to Kisumu when the water began sweeping away the vehicle.

Some passengers jumped out of the matatu, while passers-by helped pull the matatu out of the floodwaters and push it to safety.

SURVIVORS

The other eight passengers survived the incident.

John Odhiambo, the driver of the matatu, said the water current was strong.

Some of the passengers were taken to hospital and were believed to be in shock.

Flash floods also damaged property in Shauri Yako and Sofia informal settlements.

The floods destroyed the sewerage system and sewage was seen flowing into the lake.

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