15 people rescued, 30 trapped as building under construction collapses in Kisumu
Rescuers remove debris as they search for survivors after a building collapsed on Wednesday evening in the Manyatta section of Kisumu. At least 30 workers were feared trapped while five others were taken to hospital with serious injuries. PHOTO | SILAS APOLLO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- “The house was almost complete and we were on the last floor. I was downstairs when I saw a column fall. I then shouted and before I could run away, the whole building fell, trapping my colleagues,” he said.
- According to Mr Omollo, the owner of the building had disappeared and could not be traced by 10pm.
- Ms Auma said they were concerned the building collapsed as a result of poor supervision by the county government.
- The workers are said to have been having their lunch at the time the building collapsed.
At least 15 people were rescued after a shopping mall under construction collapsed on Wednesday evening in Kisumu.
Eight people, among them a pupil, were rushed to hospital in critical condition.
The 4pm incident left 30 construction workers trapped in the rubble of the collapsed building.
By 10pm on Wednesday, 15 people had been rescued, according to the police.
Gunshots rent the air as the police dispersed the crowd at the scene, as it was slowing down recovery operations. The ensuing stampede left a child critically injured.
Three bulldozers were on the site ploughing through the rubble to recover bodies believed to have been still trapped under the rubble.
Police worked with locals, Red Cross volunteers and the National Youth Service in the recovery operations.
Area OCPD Musa Kongoli, however, said it was not clear how many people remained trapped in the building as that would only be ascertained once the recovery was complete.
HAVING LUNCH
The workers are said to have been having a late lunch at the time the building collapsed.
Mr Raphael Otieno Omollo, a survivor, said he shouted when one column of the house fell down at about 4pm.
In the confusion, some of his colleagues escaped. Those who did not hear his alarm were the ones who were trapped in the rubble.
“The building was almost complete and we were on the last floor. I was downstairs when I saw a column fall. I then shouted and before I could run away, the whole building fell, trapping my colleagues,” he said.
According to Mr Omollo, the owner of the building had disappeared and could not be traced.
Ms Leah Auma, an eyewitness, said women who were supplying water to the site could also have been trapped inside the building.
Leaders from the county, among them Governor Jack Ranguma and his deputy, Ruth Odinga, visited the scene.
There was a problem of lighting initially as a blackout hampered the operations before firefighters provided generator-powered floodlights.
