BBC: Kenya’s burst Patel dam was ‘built illegally’

Villagers cross through receding waters in an area of flash flooding at Solai in Subukia, Nakuru County on May 10, 2018, after the banks of a private dam used for irrigation and fish farming burst its banks some 40kms north of the lakeside town of Nakuru in Kenya's Rift Valley. - At least 41 people died after a dam burst in central Kenya, police said, as residents described muddy waters ripping through their homes in what one survivor called "hell on earth". After a severe drought, weeks of torrential rains in Kenya have led to flooding and mudslides that have left 172 dead. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP) (Photo credit should read TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images)

Kenya’s Water Resources Management Authority has released a statement saying that the Patel dam that killed more than 45 people was built without a permit. While the farm manager has denied any wrongdoing, the bursting of the dam resulted in nearly 70 million liters of water hurtling towards the local town. In a region already overwhelmed by an uncharacteristically heavy rain season, this catastrophic dam disaster has left hundreds of thousands of families with little relief.

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Samantha Underwood