The Kenya Red Cross Society is planning to review its level of preparedness in responding to incidents of mass casualties.
Kenya Red Cross Secretary General Ahmed Idris says the development is in formed by recent incidents including the Shakahola massacre that left at least 426 followers of controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie dead.
“Mass Casualties incidents like this are an opportunity to reflect on our capacity as a nation, our capacity as an institution our preparedness to be able to deal with such tragedies, we are learning as a nation, we are learning as an institution,” he said
Speaking while touring the Malindi Sub hospital mortuary where 425 bodies of Shakahola tragedies are in a temporary donated container, Idris said part of their visit was to document and understand lessons learnt so as to prepare for the future when such incidents occur.
He also met with volunteers who took part in the Shakahola search and rescue, exhumation and the general operation.
“We have spent time with the volunteers to understand their experience, the needs of the communities and we are leaving here this evening with a better understanding of what we to plan ahead as an institution to support the communities who come out of this particular tragedy,” he said.
Idris said they will be expanding the temporary storage facility to the Shakahola tragedy bodies in coming days so as to create space to allow for identification of bodies.
Mary Muthoni
