Three people have dead and six injured after a six-storey building collapsed today morning in Kirigiti village, Kiambu town.
Kiambu governor Kimani Wamatangi arrived early at the site after the structure had tumbled to the ground to ensure that the rescue operation was conducted smoothly.
He called on the gathering residents to help in freeing the trapped.
“Let us help each other. I urge those standing over there to come and help us to remove this rubble and save those trapped inside,” pleaded the governor to the residents.
“Several people have already been pulled out of the rubble, and rushed to the hospital. Sadly, some are feared to have succumbed to their injuries,” said Wamatangi.
The building has been under construction.
In August last year a five floored residential building collapsed in Gachie, Kiambu county.
Ali Nuno, Kiambu county police commander stated that the premises had been built on the fifth floor and the structure suddenly collapsed while the workers were busy with construction on the six floor.
Nuno further assured that there were no deaths reported as a result of the incident.
The government had additionally set up new measures in an effort to contain the rising cases of collapsing buildings across the country.
The Managing Director of Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) Bernard Njiraini, stated that the use of substandard basic materials used in construction such as structural steel, cement, and roofing tiles was a major cause of buildings collapsing in the country.
Manufactures were further warned of trying to sell low quality building materials to constructors.
“We have a very elaborate way of protecting consumers against any manufacturers who will be attempting to reduce the quality of materials they are manufacturing,” Njiraini said.
“KEBS have a product certification scheme that requires manufacturers to establish quality control measures within their manufacturing establishment,” he added.
Charles Hinga, Housing Permanent Secretary has attributed the soaring cases of tumbling structures to poor choice of location and failure of research on the land where the building construction occurs.