Two dead, 5 missing after flash flood at Kenyan park

NAIROBI: Two people have died and five others are missing, feared dead, after a flash flood Sunday at Kenya’s Hell’s Gate national park, the Kenyan Wildlife Service said.

“Seven tourists swept away by the flash floods,” the KWS posted on its Twitter account. “Two bodies recovered while five bodies missing.”

A KWS official earlier told AFP that search and rescue work had been suspended for the night.

The missing five were part of a 12-strong group visiting Hell’s Gate — where the 2003 film “Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life” was shot — when they were swept away.

Two survivors from the group alerted park rangers, who sent out a search party.

There was no sign of the others, Rift Valley police chief Marcus Ochola told AFP.

Another police officer said on condition of anonymity they were missing, “presumed dead”, based on witness accounts of two survivors.

The KWS tweeted that a helicopter was due to arrive from Nairobi to help with the search and rescue operation. The gorge had been closed to the public given the continuing rains.

The seven people swept away included “five Kenyan tourists, a local guide and a non-resident”, the KWS added.

Hell’s Gate, named by 19th-century explorers, is around 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi and just south of Lake Naivasha.

Its spectacular scenery inspired the Disney animation “The Lion King”.

The park, established in 1984, is also home to three geothermal stations.