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Nairobi - Seven school children are among 15 people who have drowned in the last two days as heavy rains continue to wreak havoc across the country. They were swept away by floods on their way to school, many of which have been ordered closed.

This came as more than 50,000 people in three villages in Elgeyo-Marakwet County were asked to leave their homes for fear of landslides.A team of geologists from the Ministry of Lands toured Kittony, Embobut and Kakisoo villages and directed residents to leave as the heavy rains had eroded the grounds, raising the chances of a landslide.

Two years ago, 15 people were killed in Kittony village and many other injured in a landslide.

Relief agencies warned on Thursday the heavy rains had displaced more than 50,000 people, and destroyed property worth millions of shillings.

In Malindi, about 90 families that had been marooned by floods in Madunguni since Tuesday were rescued on Thursday by the provincial administration and the Red Cross.An 11-year-old class four pupil drowned after a motorcycle taxi he was riding on was swept away by a swollen river in Hamisi district.

Five people, among them three children, died in separate incidents in Central Kenya.In Meru, a nursery school pupil drowned in Mutonga River Gikui location.

The girl was crossing a makeshift bridge that links Keeria and Mutonga villages in Igoji when she slipped."The young girl slipped and fell off the bridge on Wednesday at around 6.30 pm. The elder sister tried to rescue her but the raging waters overpowered her and a search party recovered the body two kilometres away from the scene of the accident," said Igoji ward councillor John Kireria.