Man collapses, dies after hearing his brother was trapped in ill-fated flat

Benedict Achuta died when he heard that his younger brother Cornelius Itengu and his son were trapped in a building that collapsed in Huruma, Nairobi.

According to their other brother Anthony Luseno, Benedict collapsed and died on Monday, immediately after receiving the news.

“He had been in good health and was just at home in Idakho in Kakamega when we received a call from a relative who lives in Nairobi,” said Mr Luseno. “The relative told us that the building our brother lived in had collapsed and that many people were feared dead,

“Earlier that day, we had gone to the market and came back home at around 5pm. He was well, until I received the news and passed it to the family.”

He said his brother had five children but lived in the ill-fated flat in Nairobi with only the eldest son, who is about 16, as the others stayed at their rural home with their mother.

“He worked as a cook at the Nairobi Area Police Station near Integrity Centre and he only worked during the day,” said Mr Luseno.

“His phone is switched off, so I am almost sure that he may have been at home on the evening of the tragedy.”

The death toll from the collapsed building had reached 28 by the time of going to press on Wednesday.

A total of 136 people have so far been rescued from the rubble of the building that collapsed on Friday night.