Two Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers died in an accident while heading to Aberdare forest to contain the wildfire that has been raging the forest for two weeks.
Kenya Forest Service Saturday confirmed the incident saying a team of rangers was heading to a fire site in the Wandare area in the Aberdare Ecosystem when the accident occurred killing two instantly and leaving six others injured.
“A team of KWS rangers was being ferried to a fire site in the Aberdare Ecosystem where the vehicle rolled downhill, instantly killing one KWS ranger and one electric fence attendant. Six other KWS rangers were injured and taken to various hospitals in Nyeri County,” KFS said in a statement.
KWS Director General Erastus Kanga confirmed the death of the two while they were mobilizing the team to control the fire.
“When we were mobilizing our team on February 7, we lost one ranger and one fence attendant on their way to the fire scene,” he said after meeting top officials in the Mt Kenya and Aberdare Ecosystem region.
The accident occurred on February 8, 2023.
The fire, which started on February 6, has destroyed nearly 20,000 acres of the Aberdare National Park.
“The Aberdare moorlands are dry and windy which means the fire are moving faster and are difficult to contain, but we are working around the clock to stop them spreading,” Kanga said.
The rangers said illegal human activity is the main cause of the fire.
Volunteers from the community have joined KWS to contain the situation.
