Residents of West Pokot County have been urged to move from dangerous zones to safer places to avoid being affected by landslides following heavy rainfall experienced in the area.
This comes after two children aged 2 and 3 years old were buried alive, other family members seriously injured and property destroyed following a landslide that occurred at Solion sub location in Pokot Central Sub County after a heavy downpour.
The two children aged 2 and 3 years were buried inside their house as their parents narrowly escaped. Some of the injured are recuperating at Kapenguria County hospital while others have been referred to Moi Teaching and Referral hospital Eldoret.
According to reports on the ground, there have been a few cases of mudslides in the region with the local administration urging the locals to heed the calls and vacate from the steep slopes. Moreover, the roads in Muino location have been rendered impassable and totally cut off after the heavy rainfall.
Sigor Member of Parliament Peter Lochakapong who visited the affected victims in Kapenguria County hospital called upon families to expeditiously move to safer ground to avert the impending disaster. “With the area being in the landslide prone region there was a need to warn the locals in advance to avert any causalities,” he said.
Lochakapong asked the residents not to build their houses beneath or near hills. He also urged the County and national governments to send experts to assess the area and advice locals who reside along the slopes before the situation gets worse.
Pokot central sub county commissioner Were Simiyu said that two children from the aforementioned affected family and their mother Lorna Limareng aged 24 years were also injured as they tried to save other family members.