DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Devastating floods that have killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands more in East Africa are now inundating parts of the Masai Mara, one of Africa’s greatest wildlife national reserves. On Wednesday, the Telek River broke its banks and overflowed into parts of the natural reserve, flooding many tourist camps. A spokesman for the Kenyan Red Cross, Munir Ahmed, said that more than 90 people have been evacuated, some by helicopter. “The situation in Masai Mara is so bad,” said Daniel Ikayo, the owner of a safari company that operates there. “There is water everywhere.”The floods in the reserve have added to the heavy damage to key economic resources in Kenya, including livestock, crops and infrastructure.

Persons: Masai Mara, Munir Ahmed, ”, Daniel Ikayo Organizations: Kenyan, Cross Locations: East Africa, Kenya

☆ Tanzania flooding: 155 dead and at least 236 injured
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Larry Madowo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Flooding in Tanzania has killed 155 people and left at least 236 injured, the country’s Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said on Thursday. More than 10,000 houses have been damaged and upwards of 200,000 people have been affected, Majaliwa told the Tanzanian parliament in the capital Dodoma. The flooding has also affected Kenya, which shares a border with Tanzania in East Africa. Kenya has registered heavy rain since mid-March but downpours have intensified over the past week, leading to mass flooding that has affected around 103,500 people. Kenya Railways also suspended commuter train services nationwide.

Persons: Kassim Majaliwa, Majaliwa, downpours Organizations: CNN, country’s, El Nino, UN Office, Humanitarian Affairs, Kenyan, Kenya Railways Locations: Tanzania, Dodoma, Kenya, East Africa, Nairobi

☆ At least 32 dead as flash floods sweep through half of Kenya
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Lindsay Isaac | Larry Madowo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Nairobi, Kenya CNN —At least 32 people have been killed and two are missing after flash floods swept through almost half of Kenya. Kenya has registered heavy rain since mid-March but downpours have intensified over the past week, leading to mass flooding. Simon Maina/AFP/Getty ImagesTwo major highways out of Nairobi saw heavy traffic on Wednesday after floodwaters submerged parts of them. The Kenya Urban Roads Authority partially closed four roads that were heavily affected and warned of flooding on two others. The Kenya Meteorological Department warned of “heavy to very heavy” rainfall in parts of the country in an update on Wednesday.

Persons: downpours, ”, Edwin Sifuna, Simon Maina Organizations: Kenya CNN —, Kenyan, The Kenya Red Cross Society, Getty, Kenya Urban Roads Authority, Kenya Railways, Kenya Meteorological Department Locations: Nairobi, Kenya, The, ”, Mathare, AFP

☆ Death toll from flooding in Somalia climbs to nearly 100
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOGADISHU, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The number of people killed by floods from heavy rains in Somalia has climbed to 96, state news agency SONNA said on Saturday. "Somalia's flood death toll climbs to 96," SONNA said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, adding the figure had been confirmed by Mahamuud Moallim, the head of the country's disaster management agency. Like the rest of east and Horn of Africa, Somalia has been battered by relentless heavy rains that begun in October, caused by the El Nino and Indian Ocean Dipole weather phenomena. The flooding has been described as the worst in decades and has displaced about 700,000 people, according to the United Nations. The intense rains have unleashed widespread flooding across the country, triggering displacement and exacerbating an already existing humanitarian crisis caused by years of insurgency.

Persons: SONNA, Mahamuud Moallim, Abdi Sheikh, Abdiqani, Elias Biryabarema, Mark Potter Organizations: El Nino, United Nations, Kenyan, Cross, Thomson Locations: MOGADISHU, Somalia, Horn of Africa, Kenya

Pamela Mukalasinga, 54, a small-scale trader and mother of five, would tune in religiously to Mackenzie’s Times TV channel. “The rescued child narrated the sufferings his two siblings underwent after being starved for some time before their mother suffocated them to death,” prosecutors said. Many of those found in the forest are believed to be followers of Mackenzie. This is extremism and brainwashing of the highest order,” Walid Sketty of Kenya-based human rights group Haki Africa, which has been involved in rescue operations at Shakahola, told CNN. Shibutse recalls that his mother started to observe some of Mackenzie’s doctrines denouncing healthcare and modern education for children.

Persons: Rodgers Shibutse, Pamela, Paul Mackenzie, Pamela Mukalasinga, Shibutse, Rodgers, Mackenzie, “, Paul McKenzie, ”, Malindi, ” Mackenzie, George Kariuki, Pastor Mackenzie, ” Kariuki, Kariuki, Titus Katana, GNI, Katana, “ Mackenzie, Yasuyoshi Chiba, I’ve, ” Walid Sketty, Johansen Oduor, ” Oduor, Oduor, ” Shibutse, Robert, Mackenzie’s GNI, Gideon Mung’aro, Mackenzie wasn’t, Moses Odhiambo, Kithure Kindiki, Ezekiel Ombok Odero, ” Kindiki, Jared Magolo, “ It’s, Pastor Odero, hasn’t, Odero, Odhiambo Organizations: CNN, Mackenzie’s Times, Good News International, Kenyan Red Cross, Police, National Police, Kenyan, …, Nation . Police, Workers, Getty, Government, Digital, Times TV, Citizen Digital, Prosecutors, New, Centre Church, Kenya’s Communications Authority Locations: Kenya’s, Bungoma County, Malindi, Kenya, Shakahola, Mombasa, AFP, Africa, ”, bodybags, Kenyan, Haki Africa, “, Kilifi County, Odero

Authorities have recovered 101 bodies from shallow graves since April 21, while eight cult members were found alive but died later. Cult leader Paul Mackenzie has been in police custody since April 14, held alongside 14 other cult members. Children account for most of the bodies recovered so far, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said on Friday. Kindiki said the autopsies will look at all possibilities, including whether or not some bodies had missing organs. Oduor said the government was collecting DNA samples from those who had reported missing relatives and would do the matching in a process that would take at least a month.

Eight cult members who were found emaciated in the forest died later. Mackenzie has been in police custody since April 14 alongside 14 other suspected cult members. Two showed signs of asphyxiation, he added. Children account for most of the bodies recovered so far, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said on Friday. On Sunday, President William Ruto said he would appoint a judicial commission of inquiry this week to probe what happened in Shakahola.

NAIROBI, April 27 (Reuters) - A Kenyan church leader was arrested on Thursday over the "mass killing of his followers", the interior minister said, just days after the leader of a cult based in the same region was detained and mass graves of his followers were found. REUTERS/Stringer 1 2 3 4Odero was "being processed to face criminal charges related to mass killing of his followers," Interior Minister Kindiki wrote on Twitter. Mackenzie was arrested again on April 14, and held alongside 14 other members of his church. The death toll among Mackenzie's followers is expected to rise further. Reporting by George Obulutsa; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by James Macharia ChegeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Kenyan cult leader told followers to starve themselves ahead of world's end, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Duncan Miriri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The deaths amount to one of the worst cult-related tragedies in recent history and the toll is expected to rise further, with the Kenyan Red Cross saying more than 300 people have been reported as missing. Cult leader Paul Mackenzie has been in police custody since April 14, held alongside 14 other cult members. At the morgue at Malindi hospital, dozens of people were seeking news of relatives they feared were among the dead. The Red Cross has donated a refrigerated container on a truck to help preserve some of the corpses as the morgue is now too full. Two emaciated women were found alive early on Wednesday and were being evacuated to Malindi's hospital, according to Red Cross staff in Malindi.

☆ Kenyan father searches for wife and six children among dead cult members
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The children who have been rescued, I went and had a look and I did not see my children," Mwiti said as he waved a photo of his wife and four of the children. Mwiti said his wife took the children in 2021 to live among members of the Good News International Church, 89 of whom are known to have died. The leader of the cult, Paul Mackenzie has been in police custody since April 14, held alongside 14 other cult members. Authorities have recovered 81 bodies from shallow graves, while eight cult members died after being found alive. He said Mackenzie told them they could not pick up the children since they had all gone deeper into the forest.

☆ Kenya: Death toll in starvation cult rises to 58, police say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Reuters —Kenyan police have recovered 58 bodies from mass graves in the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya, thought to be followers of a Christian cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves, the country’s police chief said on Monday. Police near the coastal town of Malindi started exhuming bodies on Friday from the Shakahola forest. Earlier this month, police rescued 15 members of the group – worshippers at the church – who they said had been told to starve themselves to death. Local media, citing police sources, reported that Mackenzie has refused to eat or drink while in police custody. Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said the entire 800 acre forest had been sealed off and declared a scene of crime.

☆ Death toll in Kenyan starvation cult rises to 58 - police
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Hereward Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The death toll, which has repeatedly risen as exhumations have been carried out, could rise further. The Kenyan Red Cross said 112 people have been reported missing to a tracing and counselling desk it has set up at a local hospital. Kenya's Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome, visiting the scene, said the death toll included 50 people found in mass graves as well as eight who were found alive and emaciated, but later died. Koome said 14 other cult members were in police custody. Reporting by Hereward Holland; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Alexander WinningOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Search resuls for: "Kenyan Red Cross"

12 mentions found