Rescuers search for man trapped in collapsed Kware building

Rescuers at the collapsed building in Nairobi’s Pipeline estate are searching for one person who had returned to the house to switch off lights before it collapsed.

According to the deputy director of disaster management Pius Masai, two people were rescued alive while two were pulled out dead.

A chicken was also rescued alive on Wednesday as rescue operations continued.

"One body of male child was retrieved from the debris last night. Fortunately a total of three persons female adult, female child and male child were rescued alive from the debris," said Mr Masai.

He said that they have closed the search of seven who were reported missing since they had been traced.

ANOTHER DISASTER

"We had families who had reported seven family members as missing but they were traced closing that case but now we have a new case of a man who want back to switch off lights," he explained.

Limited space, he said, was slowing down rescue operation since the house is surrounded by a smaller building and another seven-storey building which has tilted and risk collapsing as well.

According to him, tenants in the smaller house have been evacuated while those in the seven-storey flat are yet to be evacuated.

Mr Masai said that opportunists have been taking advantage of the disaster and giving false information to the rescuers.

"Someone came from Murang’a saying that someone was calling from Seventh floor, the defence force rescue team risked their lives and entered the building but we found out it was a lie," said Mr Masai.

THIEVES

He added that thieves and criminals have been a major challenge in the operations. On Tuesday, the criminals attacked NYS officers who were helping in the exercise.

A woman who had claimed to have lost her two children on Tuesday, Dorothy Aoko, was relived after she found them alive. They escaped from another entrance of the building.

Ms Aoko has also refused to leave the site as she wants to find her property from the debris saying it was hard for her to start life afresh despite being grateful that she was alive and her children.