Loud Whispers

Several people have been reported missing after a seven-storey building collapsed overnight in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, rescue officials said.

The storey-building was in a residential area in Kware Pipeline, Embakasi.

The Kenya Red Cross said on its Twitter feed that the building had collapsed in an eastern Nairobi suburb,

while Saint John’s Ambulance said 15 people were reported missing.

“There are people reported missing in the tragedy,” a senior police officer said.  A total of 121 people are accounted for, said Pius Masai, deputy head of communications at the National Disaster Management Unit.

“It is believed that some people may have been trapped. Rescue efforts are ongoing,” he said in a statement.

He “appealed to anyone with cutters, drillers and any other extrication equipment” to support search and rescue efforts.

Pictures on Kenya Red Cross’ Twitter feed showed a pile of broken concrete blocks and bent metal.

The operations were hampered by lack of heavy excavation machines and poor roads.

“There has been delays because of the state of the roads,” a police officer in charge of the operations said noting that the operations were still ongoing.

Saint John’s Ambulance said three days earlier, the building had shown imminent signs of collapse, including cracks and bending of walls, and most tenants had vacated.

“As at Monday, the structure started to cave in at around 6pm and finally came down at about 10pm,” Communications Manager Fred Majiwa said.

Witnesses said the building had been condemned after a number of cracks opened up on its walls.

Kenya has seen similar tragedies in the past. A total of 49 people died mid-last year when another building collapsed during a heavy, nighttime downpour in a poor neighbourhood.

REUTERS / STAR