A second tragedy in three days. In the outskirts of Kenya’s capital, a multi-story building under construction collapsed on a neighboring home, killing at least two people on Thursday (Nov 17), authorities said.
Housing is in high demand and unscrupulous developers often bypass regulations.
Construction authorities have warned of unsafe buildings. Fredrick Kamau’s parents didn’t make it alive.
“Mum and Dad were inside the house when the building started collapsing, then collapsed on them. When the ambulance came to rescue them they found them already dead and the construction was not fully completed.”
Three other people have been rescued alive from the family home that was next to the collapsed building located in the Ruaka suburb.
“This is not the first story or rather instance. In the course of this one week we have had two buildings that have collapsed. We have lost innocent lives”, resident Willy Kamau lamented.
Last month we had a woman and her children that were buried; innocent they were also same case. They were not in the building, but a building near their house collapsed and the mother and the children just died like that. So we are asking this is the work of the county government it is not even the national government. The approvals, the drawings and everything is the work of the county government.”
After building collapses in Kenya in 2015, the presidency ordered an audit to see if the country’s buildings were up to code. The National Construction Authority found that 58% of the buildings in Nairobi were unfit for habitation.
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