One dead, two injured in Embu billboard accident

Police officers in Embu town where one construction worker died and his two colleagues were seriously injured when they fell from a storeyed building as they fixed a billboard on December 23, 2019. PHOTO | GEORGE MUNENE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The three workers had been hired by a local businessman to fix a bill board on his supermarket when the accident occurred.
  • Two of the victims landed on the balcony of the building but the third one fell hard on the ground where vehicles had been parked.
  • Embu police took the two survivors to Embu Referral Hospital.

A construction worker died on Monday and two others were seriously injured when they fell from a storeyed building in Embu town.

The worker succumbed to injuries on the spot but the survivors were rushed to Embu Referral Hospital and were admitted in critical condition.

According to witnesses, the workers had been hired by a local businessman to fix a bill board on his supermarket when the accident occurred.

The witnesses narrated how the workers went up the building using a ladder but as they were fixing the bill board, they slipped and fell from the second floor of the building located at the Central Business District.

Two of the victims landed on the balcony of the building but the third one fell hard on the ground where vehicles had been parked.

DIED INSTANTLY

Immediately after the accident which halted normal business in the town temporarily, police arrived at the scene and rescued the survivors and took them to the hospital.

The body of the third worker was taken to the Embu Referral Hospital mortuary.

Embu County police commander, Mr Daniel Rukanga said investigations into the incident had been launched.

"It is true we have lost one of the workers but we have commenced investigations to establish exactly what happened, " he said.

Mr Rukanga advised construction workers employed to decorate buildings and pin bill boards in business premises during Christmas festivities to be careful.

"We don't want to lose more people during this festive season," he added.