عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Kenya Searches for More Than 90 Missing after Floods

A woman and a man take mud and water out of their house in an area heavily affected by torrential rains and flash floods in Mai Mahiu, on April 29, 2024. (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP)
A woman and a man take mud and water out of their house in an area heavily affected by torrential rains and flash floods in Mai Mahiu, on April 29, 2024. (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP)
TT
TT

Kenya Searches for More Than 90 Missing after Floods

A woman and a man take mud and water out of their house in an area heavily affected by torrential rains and flash floods in Mai Mahiu, on April 29, 2024. (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP)
A woman and a man take mud and water out of their house in an area heavily affected by torrential rains and flash floods in Mai Mahiu, on April 29, 2024. (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP)

Rescuers were searching on Tuesday for at least 91 people missing in heavy flooding across Kenya, the interior ministry said.
At least 46 people were killed on Monday morning in a mudslide and flash floods in Mai Mahiu town in central Kenya, the ministry said in a situation report, an increase of one on the previous death toll.
Survivors in Mai Mahiu described an onslaught of water that carried away houses, cars and railway tracks, Reuters reported.
"When I opened the door, the water gushed in and made its way through the kitchen," said resident Anne Gachie.
"My husband managed to quickly maneuver and get out. My daughters who were in the next room were swept out of the house by the force of the water."
Fifty-three more people in Mai Mahiu were reported missing, the interior ministry said, while the Kenya Red Cross said its tracing desk had reports of 76 missing.
In all, at least 169 people have died across Kenya from heavy rains and flooding since last month. More than 185,000 have been forced from their homes, according to government data.
Dozens more have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced by intense downpours in Tanzania and Burundi, with scientists saying climate change is causing more intense and frequent extreme weather events.
The eastern county of Garissa, where four people were killed when their boat capsized over the weekend and 23 others were rescued from the floodwaters, has reported 16 people missing, the interior ministry said.
At least 120 people were killed in Kenya late last year by flooding caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon. Those rains followed the worst drought large parts of East Africa had experienced in decades.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Trudeau Says He Will Step Down after New Liberal Party Leader Named

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Canada on January 6, 2025. (AFP)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Canada on January 6, 2025. (AFP)
TT
TT

Trudeau Says He Will Step Down after New Liberal Party Leader Named

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Canada on January 6, 2025. (AFP)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Canada on January 6, 2025. (AFP)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that he will step down as leader of the ruling Liberals after nine years in office but will stay on in his post until the party chooses a replacement.

Trudeau, under heavy pressure from Liberal legislators to quit amid polls showing the party will be crushed at the next election, said at a news conference that parliament would be suspended until March 24.

That means an election is unlikely to be held before May and Trudeau will still be prime minister when US President-elect Donald Trump - who has threatened tariffs that would cripple Canada's economy - takes office on Jan. 20.

"This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I'm having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election," Trudeau said.

Trudeau, 53, took office in November 2015 and won reelection twice, becoming one of Canada's longest-serving prime ministers.

But his popularity started dipping two years ago amid public anger over high prices and a housing shortage, and his fortunes never recovered.

Polls show the Liberals will badly lose to the official opposition Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October, regardless of who the leader is.

Parliament was due to resume on Jan. 27 and opposition parties had vowed to bring down the government as soon as they could, most likely at the end of March. But if parliament does not return until March 24, the earliest they could present a non-confidence motion would be some time in May.

Trudeau said he had asked Canada's Governor General, the representative of King Charles in the country, to prorogue parliament and she had granted that request.

Trudeau had until recently been able to fend off Liberal legislators worried about the poor showing in polls and the loss of safe seats in two special elections last year.

But calls for him to step aside have soared since last month, when he tried to demote Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, one of his closest cabinet allies, after she pushed back against his proposals for more spending.

Freeland quit instead and penned a letter accusing Trudeau of "political gimmicks" rather than focusing on what was best for the country.

"Removing me from the equation as the leader who will fight the next election for the Liberal Party should also decrease the level of polarization that we're seeing right now in the House and in Canadian politics," Trudeau said.

The Conservatives are led by Pierre Poilievre, a career politician who rose to prominence in early 2022 when he supported truck drivers who took over the center of Ottawa as part of a protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.