15 trapped as building collapses in Nairobi

By Andrew Wasike and Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – At least 15 people have been trapped under the rubble of a seven-story building which collapsed in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Tuesday, police said.

Authorities had asked tenants to vacate the run-down building, but even though hundreds had left, a few were still living inside.

“We have rescued 128 tenants, while efforts to rescue those trapped inside is underway,” Nairobi police chief Japheth Koome told reporters.

Dorothy Aoko, one of the survivors, said that her three children were the last to escape from the building.

“It was a miracle. My children were still in the building when I heard a loud noise. Just after they rushed out, the building collapsed,” she said, adding that two of her nephews who lived with her were missing.

Pius Masai, acting director of the National Disaster Management Unit said that he had informed the police that the building, located only 10 meters away from a river, was about to collapse.

Last May, 21 people were killed in Nairobi’s Huruma estate, when a building constructed illegally on a riverbed collapsed.

Numerous building have collapsed in the east African country in the past few years claiming hundred of lives.

The government, which blames the poor state of the buildings on corruption, has marked several multi-story buildings for demolition after the Huruma building collapse.