Hunt for survivors after 10 killed in Nairobi building collapse
Nairobi (AFP) – Rescuers in the Kenyan capital made desperate efforts Saturday to free survivors including a woman and child trapped in a building that collapsed in storms that have left a total of 17 people dead.
President Uhuru Kenyatta visited the wreck of the six-storey building on Saturday, where 10 people perished after concrete floors collapsed down on top of each other during torrential rainstorms on Friday.
The two-year-old building, home to more than over 150 families, had been condemned by building authorities but the order had been ignored.
“Ten bodies have been recovered, and we have 80 people who have been treated and discharged from hospital,” Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery told reporters amid the wreckage of the building.
Seven other people died in floods elsewhere in Nairobi, including four killed when a wall collapsed.
“There is a lady in the building and her child who are alive, and all efforts are being made to rescue them, as well as other people still believed to be in the building,” Nkaissery said.
