Nairobi, Kenya
Reuters
Rescuers have pulled four people out of the rubble of a collapsed building in the Mathare neighbourhood of Kenya’s capital on Tuesday, but more people were likely trapped, the Kenya Red Cross said.
“Three out of the four rescued have been taken to a nearby health facility, while one with minor injuries was treated at the scene,” the Red Cross wrote on social media platform X.
A riot police officer stands guard as an excavator clears the rubble during the search and rescue operations of a residential flat built on riparian land, that collapsed while undergoing demolition near the Mathare River, in Mathare settlement of Nairobi, Kenya, on 14th May, 2024. PICTURE: Reuters/Thomas Mukoya
The building was undergoing demolition when it collapsed, the Red Cross said.
Mathare, in the east of Nairobi, is home to several hundred thousand people and one of the city’s largest informal settlements, where planning regulations are poorly enforced.
Mathare was inundated this month when the Mathare River, which runs through it, burst its banks after heavy rainfall, killing dozens and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes.
After weeks of heavy rains that have killed at least 289 people across the country, President William Ruto last month ordered residents to move away from flood-prone areas including in Mathare, where authorities began to destroy housing on riparian land deemed illegal.
The collapsed five-story building had been partially demolished by officials a week ago, but some residents remained in their apartments, said Wanjiru Wanjiru, an activist with the Mathare Social Justice Centre, a local rights group.
“We are still reeling from this ecological crisis…I think people were not leaving because the government had not given people any money to resettle anywhere,” Wanjiru told Reuters by telephone.
We rely on our readers to fund Sight's work - become a financial supporter today!
For more information, head to our Subscriber's page.
Meanwhile, the death toll from a building collapse in the South African city of George last week edged up to 33 on Tuesday, as rescuers continued to comb through the rubble with 19 people still unaccounted for more than a week after the incident.
Municipal officials said in a statement that only six of those who had been killed on the construction site had been identified so far, as authorities were struggling to get accurate names.
The last person to be rescued was pulled from the wreckage at the weekend, in what the Western Cape province’s premier described as “nothing short of a miracle” coming five days after the disaster.
The death toll stood at 32 on Monday. It has been steadily rising over the past week as more bodies have been retrieved.
It is not clear why the five-storey building in the city east of Cape Town collapsed on 6th May. Investigations are under way.
Rescuers have used cranes, drills and their bare hands to try to reach those trapped.
Municipal officials said fluent speakers of the Chewa, Portuguese and Shona languages had been at the scene providing support. It is believed that migrants from other southern African countries such as Malawi and Zimbabwe were working on the construction site.
– With TANNUR ANDERS and BHARGAV ACHARYA
