Floods maroon tourists in Kenya's Maasai Mara
By Wycliffe Muia
Tourists and staff are being evacuated from Kenya’s popular Maasai Mara game reserve after floods left parts of it submerged.
More than 10 lodges and camps have been flooded after the nearby Talek River burst its banks on Tuesday.
There are also fears that some animals might have been swept away by the raging floods.
The area’s police chief, Kipkoech Lotiatia, told the BBC the reserve was badly damaged.
“The water has subsided but some lodges and camps are still under water,” Mr Lotiatia said.
It is unclear how many people are trapped in the reserve, but about 36 have been rescued so far by air and another 25 by a boat rescue team, the Kenya Red Cross said.
“In some camps, tents have been swept away, and the Mara bridge, linking the Mara Triangle and the Greater Mara, has been washed away,” the aid agency added in a post on X.
Local official Stephen Nakola told the AFP news agency that about 100 tourists were stranded.
