How stroke of luck saved hundreds in deadly Elgeyo mudslide disaster

The fatalities from the catastrophic mudslides and rock falls that hit Elgeyo Marakwet one week ago would have been in the hundreds, but it seems luck was on the side of locals that fateful Saturday morning.

By the following day, 36 people were already dead, and 15 others were still missing in the disaster that swept through several villages in Murkutwa, Chesongoch, Kabetwa, and parts of Embobut, located in Marakwet East.

Although devastated by the deluge that pushed mud and rocks down the steep, yet picturesque Elgeyo Marakwet hanging valley, The Saturday Standard can reveal that the downstream deaths would have been more staggering.

River Enou had burst its banks as furious runoffs swept mud, rocks, and tree trunks further down to the valley.

The river passes near Chesongoch trading centre, where more than 250 families live.

A huge rock fell from the escarpments and blocked the river that originates from the Tirap section of the Embobut forest, preventing the murderous water carrying heavy boulders, trees, and mud from sweeping through the fast-growing trading centre and burying hundreds of people alive, and sweeping others towards the Kerio River on the border of Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo.

Locals who survived the disaster now describe the giant boulder as the lucky rock that saved a populous trading centre from devastation.

Following the blockage, the Enou River changed its course as locals described their lucky escape as miraculous, even as they mourned more than 36 deaths and missing individuals.

Days after the catastrophe, the original course remains full of mud and rocks, and the new River Enou is flowing freely on a new route nearly a kilometer away and still emptying its water to the Kerio River.

William Kipchumba of Kasegei village, one of the affected areas, says that had the rock not blocked the river and caused it to change its course, the entire Chesongoch trading centre would have either been covered by debris or swept away.

“Luckily, the river changed its course at about 3am when people were dead asleep,” Kipchumba says at Mulwaper, where the Enour River changed its course.

Kipchumba, who lost a sister-in-law and her two children in the tragedy, goes on to say: “If it had not changed its course, Enou River would have directed debris to Chesongoch centre and that would have been more devastating. It was just a miracle.”

Five years ago, Chesegon, which is the oldest trading centre along the Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot border, was submerged by mud in another disaster that killed 26 people. Chesegon had been deserted following banditry attacks.

Clement Kibet says the Enou River has never changed its course in history, but the deadly mudslides caused its rerouting.

“The river is flowing perfectly in the new course as if this is its original route. It swept through the Murkutwa and swept away three children of my friend Nicholas Korir and his wife. Luckily, the wife survived,” says Kibet.

Even as the murderous runoff spared Chesongoch trading centre, it swept through Kwenoi, Kasegei, and Kipkurwon villages, among others.

Salina Kirop’s home was not spared as a swollen River Enou swept through areas near her house, killing her husband and three grandchildren.

Just right at the base of the escarpments, rivers flowing down to the valley had pushed their banks to as far as 100 metres on each side, sweeping everything, including homes, domestic animals, and crops, on its way.

At the point where the changed its course, an elderly man only identified as Kibongil was swept by raging waters and his body was discovered about three kilometers away.

The Saturday Standard crew had a firsthand experience on the search and rescue mission.

People were swept away as they slept, and their bodies were discovered as far as 12 kilometers away.

Huge losses

Enou senior assistant chief Clement Cheserek is a disturbed man.

Most of the time, as teams comb through the muddy thickets of Kerio Valley for bodies of missing persons, the assistant chief is buried in thought as he counts losses resulting from devastating mudslides that seemingly had no respect for authority.

Sludge and rocks hit the administrator’s house and destroyed everything, but he was lucky to survive the horror.

“At first, I thought River Enou had burst its banks after the rains, but the rumbling intensified and I rushed out only to discover that the entire compound was muddy,” narrates Cheserek.

The assistant chief further says: “I quickly awakened neighbours in rental houses right behind my house and managed to compel them to run to safety. As I was rescuing neighbours and calling people within my jurisdiction to run to safer grounds, the mudslides intensified.”

He added: “When danger became evident, I rushed to a nearby tamarind tree and climbed up. It was minutes after 2 a,m and from atop the tree I saw the mud and rocks sweeping through the area.”

Alfred Okinga, a mechanic from Vihiga who has worked in Chesongoch for over 25 years, is lucky to be alive.

However, the disastrous mudslides have ruined his livelihood. He was born in Masogi in Vihiga, but Chesongoch became his new home.

As he picked the pieces, Okinga said the mud swept his motorcycle and tool boxes, equipment which he used in his motor vehicle repair work.

“I was in the house with one of my children and we were woken up by my landlord at around 2am. She asked us to run away because the area was flooding. We ran to a nearby bakery and we found that it had been covered by debris,” Okinga says.

He states: “It is hard. I have lost everything. I don’t know how I will start again. But I’m thankful that I’m alive.”

Lorna Kirop, a widow who owns rental houses and shops near Murkutwa junction, can’t comprehend the huge losses.

Ms Kirop lost 12 rental houses, a shop full of stocks, and 100 crates of soda, property she valued at nearly Sh4 million.

“The rental houses were destroyed by falling rocks and covered by mud. I have lost more than Sh3 million. We managed to run to a safer ground and escaped death,” the widow said.

She lived in a house that was buried by mud moments after she left alongside her children, aged 25, 23 and 18 years.