Nairobi: A police official says two people died and 38 others were rescued Sunday night when an eight-story residential building collapsed in Nairobi.
Nairobi police official Benson Kibue said one of the victims died on arrival at Hospital and a child’s body was retrieved from the rubble in the lower-income Huruma area.
Kenya Red Cross official Nick Thiongo said dozens of the building residents cannot be traced. Nairobi County Chief Planner Tom Odongo said the upper floors were being built in quick succession, putting pressure on the lower floors. Last month eight people died when a building collapsed in Kaloleni another lower-income area of Nairobi.
Because of high demand for housing in Nairobi, some property developers often bypass building regulations to cut costs and maximise profits.
The building collapsed at around 7pm (1600 GMT), sparking a major rescue operation involving scores of police, city officials and medical workers, a photographer at the scene said.
Medical workers said more than 20 people had been admitted to local hospitals.
Speaking to Capital FM radio, Nairobi county official Tom Odongo said the six floors of the building were all occupied and a seventh was under construction.
He also said the upper floors were built in quick succession, putting pressure on the lower floors, and added that the construction had not been permitted by local authorities.
“The fault lies with the developer, not the county government, because responsibility starts with the individual,” Odongo insisted.
Large numbers of residents also swarmed to the site, volunteering to dig in the rubble with their bare hands, although crowds were pushed away by police as heavy lifting machinery and official rescue teams were brought in.
“I’d gone out to watch the Arsenal [football] game when the building collapsed,” said Eric Ochieng, a witness and resident of the building.
“I rushed back for my wife and son, and I also pulled out two people and a child in the process.”
Kenya’s KTN news channel said 20 ambulances had been put on stand-by in the area.
The collapsed building borders a primary school on one side and a maze of similar, densely populated houses on the other.
