At least two missing after building collapse in Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya — Rescuers pulled a baby girl, a 10-year-old boy and their mother from the rubble of an eight-story building Tuesday that had collapsed in a low-income part of Kenya’s capital, while two people were thought to remain trapped in the debris.
One child was believed to be among those missing, said National Disaster Management Unit Deputy Director Pius Mwachi.
“Due to delicate operations because of space to operate in, it may take more time,” Mwachi said Tuesday night. “There are other buildings surrounding the collapsed building; one of them is weak and denying us space.”
The collapse came just months after a government order to demolish all condemned buildings in the country and evacuate their residents.
Police said the collapse occurred late Monday night, with as many as 10 people at first thought to be trapped inside. On Tuesday, police fired tear gas after residents angered by the slow deployment of government rescuers hurled stones, said a resident, Hailey Akinyi.
Akinyi, who lives in an adjacent building, witnessed the collapse. The building and her own had been marked with an “X,” meaning they had been condemned by the National Construction Authority, she said. Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero confirmed the collapsed building had been condemned.
Most of the residents from the collapsed building evacuated after they noticed expanding cracks in the foundation, Akinyi said. A video one resident sent to The Associated Press before the collapse showed deep cracks in the foundation and walls.
Building collapses have become common in Nairobi, where
4 million people live in low-income areas or slums.
After eight buildings collapsed and killed 15 people in Kenya in 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered an audit of all the country’s buildings. The National Construction Authority found that 58 percent of buildings in Nairobi were unfit for habitation.