7-Storey Building Collapses in Kiambu [PHOTOS & VIDEO]

UPDATE: Police retrieved the bodies of a mother and her two children who died after a building in Kirigiti, Kiambu county collapsed onto adjacent residential houses.

According to police, the deceased were tenants in an adjacent apartment and succumbed to injuries while being rushed to Kiambu level 5 hospital. Seven people were rescued from the rubble, among them a six-year-old child.

Residents of Kirigiti, Kiambu county were woken up with panic on Monday morning, September 26 after a building seven storeys tall collapsed.

Photos and videos seen by Viral Tea showed residents carrying out rescue efforts around the rubble from the building, with a private vehicle engulfed in the process.

Media reports so far indicate that three people have been rescued alive, with rescue operations ongoing, spearheaded by Kiambu County police commander Pheminus Kioi.

Here is the video:

SAD NEWS
UNKNOWN number of people trapped in the rubbles of a building that collapsed early morning. 3 rescued alive. Rescue operations ongoing spearheaded by Kiambu County Police commander Pheminus Kioi. pic.twitter.com/SLVX7t1lnd — Macharia Wangui (@Princewangui) September 26, 2022

Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi was among the first responders on site supervising the rescue operation.

"Let us help each other. I urge those standing over there to come and help us to remove this rubble and save those trapped inside," the governor urged the residents. 

The incident adds to the list of collapsed buildings in Kiambu County. In August 2021, a five-storey residential building collapsed in Gachie, Kiambu. 

Kiambu county police commander, Ali Nuno revealed that the structure was built up to the fifth floor. 

Labourers were busy with construction activities on the sixth floor when the building suddenly collapsed and caved in. He affirmed that no deaths were reported during the incident. 

Further, the government had recently set new standards in a bid to mitigate the rise in cases of collapsed buildings across the country.

A day after the August 9 general elections, several people were trapped after a building four-storeys tall collapsed in Infinity Area, Mwiki Estate, Nairobi County.

Back in May, an unknown number of people were trapped inside the debris of a building that collapsed in Ruiru, Kiambu County.

First responders from the Kiambu Fire Department reported to the scene of the accident and mounted rescue operations. However, two people were confirmed dead during the rescue operations.

Debris after a four storey building collapsed in Mwiki Estate, Nairobi on August 10, 2022. /FILE

A section of it was demolished by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to pave way for the expansion of the Eastern Bypass into a dual carriageway at a cost of Ksh12.5 billion.

The road was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday, July 31 alongside the Ksh87.9 billion Nairobi Expressway after public trials.