Woman dies, husband goes missing after landslide hits Murang’a village
By Wangari Njuguna, April 7, 2025One woman has died, and her husband escaped death by a whisker after their house was hit by a landslide in Mung’aria village, Kandara, Murang’a County.
The incident which occurred Saturday evening was reportedly caused by the heavy rains which have been pounding the area.
The man managed to escape to safety, but his wife was not lucky when the landslide swept down and destroyed their house, and she was stuck in the mud. It took the rescuers several hours to retrieve the body, which was moved to the Githumu mortuary.
Area MCA Naomi Maina cautioned the locals to be on the lookout for any indicators of landslides, further advising those living in potentially risky areas to move to safer grounds.
Maina said areas with steep topography are prone to landslides, exposing the residents to a huge risk.
“We have lost a life to the landslide, and we are urging the residents to be on the lookout to avert more deaths,” she said. “We are urging the locals to move to safer grounds until the rains subside and the risk of landslides goes down,” added Maina.
Rainy season
Murang’a County is one of the regions where landslides are reported every rainy season, causing massive destruction and a handful of lives lost.
The government, through the Ministry of Mining, dispatched a team of geologists to conduct geo-hazard mapping in the area.
Last year, five members of the same family from Gitugu in Mathioya died after their house was hit and destroyed by a landslide.
The report by geologists indicated that the areas which have had seismic movements are unsafe for human habitation and the residents ought to permanently relocate.
During his recent visit to Murang’a, the former PS in the Ministry of Mining, Elija Mwangi, said the government was planning to embark on rehabilitating the damaged areas and seeking alternative land for relocation for areas which were declared unsafe for human habitation.
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