Joy as baby rescued four days after city building collapsed

Joy as baby rescued four days after city building collapsed

What you need to know:

  • Seven-month-old Dealeryn was rescued from the rubble at 4am.

  • She was besides what used to be their family bed.

  • Rescuers also retrieved the body of a woman the National Disaster Management Unit believes was Dealeryn’s mother only identified as Eunice Bosibori.

A baby girl was rescued unscathed on Tuesday from a building that collapsed in Huruma Estate, Nairobi, four days ago. Dealeryn Saisi was sleeping in a basin wrapped in a blanket.

Seven-month-old Dealeryn was rescued from the rubble at 4am. She was besides what used to be their family bed.

Rescuers also retrieved the body of a woman the National Disaster Management Unit believes was Dealeryn’s mother only identified as Eunice Bosibori.

The infant was taken to the Kenyatta National Hospital for treatment. Hospital’s spokesman Simon Ithae, said preliminary examinations showed the baby’s condition was stable.

“She has no visible physical injuries. She was dehydrated when she arrived but we have handled that,” Mr Ithae said.

Her father Ralson Saisi Wasike shed tears of joy in an emotional reunion with his only child at the hospital.

Mr Saisi said he went to the hospital after receiving news that a young child had been rescued.  He has been living at the Huruma CDF Grounds, together with other victims, since the tragedy struck on Friday night.

“I wanted to find out whether the baby who was rescued was mine and when I confirmed she is the one, I was beside myself with joy,” he said.

“She was awake though very weak. When I called out her name, she raised her head and stretched her hands out to me and she smiled,” he said.

Tears of joy filled his eyes as he finally met his only child after five days of agony and desperation. Despite that, the hospital told Mr Wasike that they still needed to confirm that he was indeed the father of the child.

“I am very happy that I have found her alive. I know it is a miracle for her to survive for that long because many people have died,” he said.

He said he had been impatient, in pain and desperate since the collapse of the building on Friday night during a heavy downpour.

Disaster unit commander Pius Masai said Mr Wasike will be counselled because he was still traumatized.

Mr Wasike is expected to go to the City Mortuary to confirm a body that was found next to the child, as it is suspected it could be the little girl’s mother.

FAMILY MEMBERS

“I do not want to lose hope of finding her alive. I believe in miracles now, more than ever. I am happy that my child is alive and I do not take that for granted because I know of people who have more than five family members still inside there,” added Mr Wasike.

He said that on the night of the tragedy, he had left his wife and daughter in the house to go to Ruaraka where he works as a casual labourer.

It was a normal day and they had an early dinner together before he bid them goodbye. He needed to report to work by 7pm.

“A neighbour who runs a business near our flat called and told me that our house had collapsed. I came back, I arrived around 10.30 pm only to find that our flat was down and people were milling around it

“I cried since I could not do anything else. With time, police officers came and asked everyone to leave the scene.”

“We stood at a distance and watched police and rescuers help people out of the rubble. All I could do was to wait for them to do their work. My desperation increased as hours passed but I did not for a second lose hope of finding my daughter and wife alive,” he said.

He said his daughter is proof enough that miracles still happen. By 4pm yesterday, the death toll from the tragedy had reached 23.