One more body pulled from collapsed Majengo building

One more body was recovered from the rubble of the building that collapsed on Thursday morning at Majengo in Mombasa. This brings the death toll to three.

The body was retrieved by a rescue team that comprised military personnel, municipal council, Kenya Ports Authority fire fighters, and the public at about 9.30 pm on Thursday.

Lieutenant Colonel John Ndegwa, who is leading the recovery efforts, said the body was among those suspected to have been trapped in the debris.

He added that the search and recovery mission was still going on as it was suspected that there were more bodies in the debris.

“We expect to spend more than a week removing the rubble but chances of getting more people alive are diminishing,” he said.

Six survivors are still nursing their injuries at the Coast Provincial General Hospital.

At the same time, a team from the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) from Nairobi arrived at the scene Friday morning and said due procedure was not followed during the construction of the building.

Architect Steven Oundo said preliminary investigations indicated that the contractor was not registered and that the materials were not tested, as required by law.

“There is no official site sign board to indicate the name of the contractor, the surveyor, and who approved the building,” said Mr Oundo, adding that the tragedy should be a wake up call to building inspectors.

He challenged the Mombasa Municipal Council to enforce by-laws to enhance inspecting and avert such tragedies. He also warned developers against involving unregistered contractors in their projects.
“It is unfortunate that the tragedy has occurred but in future, for any building to be constructed, the developer should involve consultants, the council, and surveyors,” said Mr Oundo.
Involve consultants

He announced that the association’s investigation report would be released in two weeks. Mombasa town clerk Tubman Otieno said the building was not approved by the council.

AAK Mombasa branch chairman Maxwell Suero warned that there were many illegal buildings coming up on Mombasa island which could collapse because of the sub-standard materials used. He said a committee had been formed to investigate the structures.