Wamuzi News Ke
Saturday evening, authorities confirmed that a building that was being constructed opposite Karen Community Church along Ngong road collapsed due to a terrible structural failure.
This incident left a large number of people feared trapped, and emergency teams were hurriedly trying to save lives. The incident has also resulted in the city’s most urgent rescue operation in recent months, coming just a few days after another construction site in South C collapsed, resulting in loss of lives.
Reports that a multi-storey structure collapsed while reportedly workers laying the slab foundation on one of the lower floors immediately led to the deployment of emergency responders from the Kenya Red Cross, National Disaster Management Unit, Nairobi County officials and police units.
Thick clouds of dust and chaotic scenes of debris have made it difficult for the responders to reach potential survivors.
The number of casualties that have been evacuated to the hospital with serious injuries stands at six, and officials, however, have said that the exact toll is still unclear and that many victims might still be under the rubble.
Search and rescue teams are working with heavy machinery and trained dogs to cut through the shattered concrete and twisted metal in this race against time. Local eyewitnesses recounted the first floor crashing down producing a tremendous noise, the storey falling without warning and very shortly after motorist and pedestrian from the nearby area rushing to the scene to help.
The authorities have cordoned off the area and directed the public to avoid the section of Ngong road from Karen Community Church, both to safeguard the rescue operations and to maintain the flow of traffic.
This incident has raised a lot of questions about the safety of buildings and the enforcement of regulations in Nairobi’s constantly changing construction environment.
Buildings codes not being followed properly, cheap materials being used, and lack of supervision have been the main issues that experts have raised before, and these concerns have surfaced again now that the rescue operations are going on.
The disaster comes to light against the background of another one quite similar that happened some days ago in South C, where a building still under construction collapsed, taking two lives and bringing forth the demand for a nationwide construction practice audit even more urgently.
The reason behind the Ngong Road collapse is being investigated and authorities are expected to give more updates as the rescue operation goes on and more information comes to light.
