At least 46 dead as dam bursts in flood-hit Kenya

At least 46 people, including children, died when a makeshift dam burst its banks in Kenya's Rift Valley in the early hours of April 29, a local official said, as torrential rains and floods battered the African country.

Scores of people have been killed over the March-May wet season in Kenya as heavier than usual rainfall pounds East Africa, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern.

Residents said the accident occurred in the dead of night when the dam burst near the town of Mai Mahiu in Nakuru county, sending torrents of water and mud gushing down a hill and engulfing everything in its path.

The deluge cut off a road, uprooted trees, washed away homes and sent vehicles flying, devastating the village of Kamuchiri.

Joyce Ncece, chief officer for disaster management in Nakuru County, told AFP that there were 46 bodies at the mortuary but warned that the number could increase.

The dead included 20 women and 17 children.

Nakuru governor Susan Kihika said 110 people were being treated in hospital.

The Red Cross has set up a desk at a local school to help families find lost loved ones.

The weather has also wreaked havoc in neighbouring Tanzania, where at least 155 people have been killed in flooding and landslides.

In Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, floods claimed the lives of four people, according to the Fire and Disaster Risk Management Commission.