Couple Dies After Ruaka Building Collapses

The ambulance affirmed that rescue operations were underway to reach the family members trapped in the rubble as they search for other people.

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
Nov 17, 2022 - 07:07 Updated: Nov 17, 2022 - 10:53
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Couple Dies After Ruaka Building Collapses
A six-storey building in Ruaka near Fortune Club area collapses on Thursday, November 17, 2022. /TWITTER

UPDATE: A couple has been confirmed dead after a 6-storey building under construction in Ruaka collapsed on Thursday morning, November 17.

Their three children however survived as they lived in another house in the compound. The building had flattened the iron sheet house the couple were spending their night in, which was next to the collapsed building.

“I live in the next building and when I heard the bang, I rushed outside. With the help of others who had come, we pulled out the rubbles but unfortunately, my brother and his wife had died,” Antony Karomo, a brother to the deceased, told the media.

Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi while visiting the scene at Old Ruaka Road alongside rescue teams from the county, promised that action would be taken to prevent future incidences of that nature from occurring.

“We have agreed to sit down and find immediate ways of addressing this menace. We cannot continue to lose innocent lives like this. People must face the law if they commit offences," he attributed preliminary investigations showing that the contractor of the building breached some procedures.

"If contractors do not want losses, they must adhere to the rules. We will demolish all buildings that have not been properly built. We will not wait for buildings to collapse. We will pull them down.”

A 6-storey building under construction in Ruaka, Kiambu County collapsed in the early morning hours of Thursday, November 17, claiming two lives.

An update by the St John Ambulance confirmed that the incident occurred at 5 am when the building near Fortune Club area collapsed on a neighbouring private home affecting family members who were asleep when the incident occurred.

The ambulance affirmed that rescue operations were underway to reach the family members trapped in the rubble as they search for other people.

A six-storey building in Ruaka near Fortune Club area collapses on Thursday, November 17, 2022. /TWITTER

"6-storey building under construction collapsed at around 5 am.

"A neighbouring private home was affected with a family who was sleeping at the time it collapsed believed to be trapped. Rescue team trying carefully to reach the family members alive," St John stated.

According to the Nation, three survivors have since been taken to hospital. 

Photos and videos seen online saw a team of rescuers rushing to remove the debris to rescue the family members.

Witnesses and bystanders were advised to keep a few metres away from the incident as the rescue operation was ongoing. 

"The building was under construction. The major predicament is the family that was neighbouring the building," one of the witnesses expressed concerns at the scene.

The incident already paints a damning picture of the conduct of rogue contractors who allow construction works to be carried out even after their buildings have been flagged by the National Construction Authority (NCA) as unsafe.

It came barely two days after a seven-storey building collapsed in Kasarani. Three people, including a vendor, were confirmed dead in the building collapse, with six rescued from the rubble.

Speaking during a visit to the site, Nairobi Governor, Johnson Sakaja announced that he reshuffled the technical committee tasked with the approval of buildings after he found loopholes leading to a series of buildings collapsing in the city.

Sakaja promised to have the building's developer arrested and charged in court with murder and instructed the Ministry of Lands and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to find him, as he has since gone into hiding.

Sakaja, who was in the company of Lands Cabinet Secretary Zachariah Njeru and a host of area leaders, further promised to rein in the culprits involved in the irregular approval of the building.

"Pull down those buildings yourselves or let us come for you because in search for profits you are endangering lives. We have already changed our county technical approval committee and if I find any officer having been culpable at any point, they will go home and be charged,” he stated.