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Scores stranded after heavy rains in Arusha
2006-03-02 09:16:18
By Guardian Reporter
A storm, believed to be the heaviest in three years, cut off communication and left hundreds of passengers stranded yesterday at two sections of the Dar es Salaam-Arusha-Nairobi highway.
Eyewitnesses said the downpour, which follows years of severe drought, resulted in heavy floods that submerged sections of the highway at Ingikareti and Eningijare in the northern tourist town of Arusha.
Ingikareti is in the new district of Longido, some 50 kilometres from Arusha and Eningijare is in Arumeru district, about 20 kilometres from Arusha – a few kilometres from Ngaramtoni area.
A number of passenger vehicles plying between Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and other upcountry regions got stuck in mud, while others failed to reach their destinations.
Reports said that flights linking Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) in Tanzania and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya were also affected by the storm.
’In the first place, only a few cars, particularly the four-wheel drive ones managed to move, but later the highway was blocked as the entire road section was covered in mud and water,’ a Guardian reporter, Patrick Kisembo, said.
’The two areas are completely disconnected and passengers stranded. Passengers travelling to Dar es Salaam through Nairobi are stranded on the Namanga side of Kenya while those travelling to Mwanza through Nairobi are stuck on the Tanzanian side,’ he said.
The rains began in Longido and the surrounding areas on Monday night and it kept raining for three consecutive days, resulting in heavy floods.
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