Death and injuries as building caves in

Thirty-seven people were feared trapped in a collapsed building in Kiambu Town on Monday.

Two other people were confirmed dead and 14 injured after the five-storey building under construction collapsed.

The General Service Unit, the Nairobi Fire Brigade and volunteers from the Red Cross mounted a massive rescue operation last night as it emerged that as many as 37 people could be trapped in the rubble.

The building collapsed at lunch hour on Monday and some of those unaccounted for were said to include women who were selling food to the construction workers.

Casual workers
According to the site’s foreman, Mr Robert Makau, 35 people were employed as casual workers. Another 15 were employed by another supervisor.

He said 11 of his employees had been rescued.

The Municipal Council of Kiambu does not have a fire brigade, raising questions about the state of its disaster preparedness.

Three days ago, another building also under construction, collapsed in Huruma killing a man who lived next door.

Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere arrived two hours after the incident. An army helicopter arrived half an hour later, to help coordinate rescue efforts.

Staff at the Kiambu District Hospital kept journalists away, but it is understood that 12 people were admitted there last night, most with multiple fractures.

Rescue efforts were marked by confusion as wananchi heckled police, led by Kiambu OCPD Samuel Mukindia, who tried to keep them away from the scene.

Police diverted vehicles from the main Kiambu-Ndumberi Road, resulting in a massive traffic jam.

Some of those trapped in the building made frantic but desparate calls to friends and relatives, pleading to be dug out of the rubble.

According to Job Omari, a carpenter at a workshop next to the collapsed building, a loud bang was heard at the site a few minutes to 2pm before the place was engulfed in dust.

A heavy downpour which started at 7 pm complicated rescue work.

Three earthmovers were taken to the site but their arrival, more than three hours after the incident, left Kiambu residents disappointed.

They complained that the presence of the officers had slowed the rescue effort.

A survivor, Gideon Muliti told the Nation from his bed at Kiambu District Hospital that he was on the fifth floor when he heard his colleagues on the lower floors screaming and stones started raining down on him.

Mr Walter Onyango, who was fixing iron sheets on the roof, said at around 11 am he had noticed that one of the inner columns of the building had a crack, which he ignored. He was among the 12 rescued in the melee that followed the initial shock of the collapse.

He suffered a broken femur while Mr Muliti suffered a cut to the forehead, a broken hand and injuries to his ribs.

Heavy rains

The Nairobi Fire Brigade, volunteers from the Red Cross Society and St John’s Ambulance were still at the site last night but rescue work was slowed down by heavy rains.

A command post has been set up at the site to coordinate the rescue effort and officials from the National Disaster Response Center were there at the time of going to press on Monday night.

The collapse was also reminiscent of another at Nyamakima in 2005. Buildings have also recently collapsed in Mombasa, Kisii and Nakuru.

“We were just in the course of our work when stones started falling on the roof of our workshop. We ran to the far end of the workshop and it was a few minutes later that we realised what was happening,” said Mr Omari.

Mr Roman Tango, who also works at the workshop, said he heard shouts before the building collapsed but it was not clear what those inside the building were saying.

A shaken Mr Makau said the excavation of the site next to the collapsed building may have contributed to the collapse, saying the construction had been sound and an engineer had been on site.

There was no signboard with details of the construction on site but Mr Makau it had been pulled down for repair.