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CatastropheKenya

Building collapse leaves 5 dead in Kenya

September 26, 2022

A rescue operation is underway near Nairobi after a six-story building collapsed. Five people were confirmed dead and more are feared to be trapped under the rubble.

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Rescurers search through a multi-storey collapsed apartment building in Kirigiti, Kiambu County, Kenya
Emergency workers and volunteers attempted to help people trapped under heavy concreteImage: John Muchucha/AP/picture alliance

At least five people were killed in Kirigiti on the outskirts of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, after a six-story building collapsed on Monday.

Authorities fear that the death toll could be higher.

"We have lost five people in the collapsed ... building," Kiambu County Governor Kimani Wamatangi said, adding that search and rescue efforts were underway.

A mother and her two children were among the dead.

"Several people have already been pulled out of the rubble, and rushed to the hospital," Wamatangi said.

Rescuers help people from a collapsed building in Kirigiti, Kiambu county, in Kenya
Some people escaped with only minor injuries.Image: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images

'Extremely substandard' building

The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear, but the governor accused the developer of "extremely substandard" work.

"This guy built without authorization. He came and applied for permission, he was told to comply with a few conditions, he disappeared, continued to build,'' Wamatangi said.

The East African nation is undergoing a construction boom amid weak oversight, shoddy construction and corruption.

An aerial view of the scene of a collapsed building, blamed on poor construction materials in Kirigiti, Kiambu, in Kenya
More people are feared trappedImage: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images

At least three people died in December 2019, when a residential building collapsed in Nairobi.

That incident came three months after seven children died and scores were injured when their school was flattened in an accident blamed on third-rate construction.

lo/wd (AP, AFP)