Kenya: At least one person has died and another trapped after a building under construction collapsed early Sunday morning in Ongata Rongai Town.
The building had not been occupied and locals said the victims were construction workers at the six-storey building that collapsed at about 2am.
The workers were doing final touches on the floors and had decided to spend the night on the job.
A survivor said he heard stones falling and thought they were under attack by intruders before he was engulfed with dust and the rubbles.
“I heard stones falling and thought someone was throwing them to where we were sleeping. And before I could comprehend what was happening, the floors collapsed and trapped us before we were rescued by the locals here,” said the witness at the site.
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Locals said there had been no signs the building was weak and would collapse, although there were claims by the National Construction Authority it was being constructed at an illegal site.
NCA’s Stephen Mwilu said they are investigating to establish how the building was allowed to go up to sixth floor without proper approvals.
“The building was sitting on an illegal site and that is what we want to establish how that happened,” he said.
At the site, several other buildings are mushrooming at high rate due to demand.
A rescue team comprising the police, the Kenya Red Cross and the Nairobi County fire brigade were involved in rescue operations.
Police joined in controlling a crowd that had gathered at the scene.
Outgoing Nairobi police boss Benson Kibui said a search and rescue team had been constituted even as excavators moved the rubble.
Deputy Director of the National Disaster Management Unit (NDMU) Pius Masai said they were rushing through the rubbles as part of efforts to rescue the one missing person.
“We have talked to survivors and they say they were six inside the building and so far we have rescued four. One body was removed earlier on and efforts to get the other missing person are ongoing,” he said at the scene.
Cases of collapsing buildings have been on the rise in the past months in parts of Nairobi and its environs with little action being taken on those responsible.
The incidents have claimed dozens of lives and left others nursing injuries in the period, amid calls for strict action on those responsible and thorough inspections on structures that are under construction.
For instance on December 17, a five-storey residential building that was partly occupied and still under construction collapsed in Kaloleni. Seven people died in the incident.
Another building collapsed in Huruma killing five people and injuring several others.
The government had ordered inspection and audit on all buildings in the city and other areas but the report is yet to be made public.
