An eight-storey building under construction has collapsed in Syokimau, near Nairobi, killing six workers and injuring five others, officials have said.
The building came down on Friday morning along Mombasa Road, near the Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway Terminus, after its top slab gave way while workers were carrying out concreting works.
Top Slab Gives Way
The collapse happened at about 9:50 on Friday morning, according to a preliminary report by the Nairobi City County emergency and rescue team. The top slab of the building caved in, bringing down part of the structure and trapping workers under the debris.
Preliminary reports indicate the collapse followed a failure of the formwork holding the concrete in place. The building, which stood near Gateway Mall along Mombasa Road, was eight storeys high and still under construction.
More than 400 workers were at the construction site when the building collapsed. All of them have since been accounted for, according to the National Disaster Management Unit.
6 Dead, 5 Rescued Alive
Three bodies were recovered during the initial rescue operations. Three more bodies were later retrieved from the debris, bringing the confirmed death toll to six. All six victims were middle-aged men, Nairobi County said.
Five people were pulled out alive from the rubble and rushed to hospital for emergency treatment. The Kenya Red Cross said three people had initially been rescued and taken to hospital, while one person was reported missing in the early hours of the rescue.
The five survivors were taken to Imara Daima Hospital. Their identities, and those of the dead, had not been released by the time of publication.
Rescue Operation at the Site
The Nairobi City County Fire Team and the Urban Search and Rescue team were deployed to the scene to search for workers who may have been trapped beneath the rubble. Police urged members of the public and motorists using Mombasa Road near the SGR Terminus to keep clear of the area so that rescue operations could proceed without interruption.
Emergency responders, including the Kenya Red Cross, the National Police Service and county disaster teams, worked through the day combing the debris for anyone who might still be trapped.
Owner and Contractor Identified
The National Disaster Management Unit has identified the owner and contractor of the collapsed building. NDMU Director Duncan Ochieng said the building is owned by Reportage Kenya, while Top Choice Surveillance is the contractor undertaking the construction.
Ochieng said authorities would ensure due process was followed as investigations got under way to establish the cause of the collapse. Construction work at the site has since been halted.
The Syokimau collapse comes exactly three weeks after another deadly building collapse in Eastleigh, Nairobi, where a multi-storey building under construction came down along 9th Street on 23 October, killing eight people.
Figures from the Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development show that Kenya has recorded 100 building collapses over the past 30 years, with more than 40 people dying in such incidents in the last five years alone.
Read more of our Trend & Society coverage.
For the second collapse in two days, read Nairobi Riverside Wall Collapse Kills 3, 11 Missing.
Sources: Pulse Kenya, Nairobi News, 254 News, Citizen Digital, Tuko, Kenyans.co.ke, Radio Generation.
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