Murang’a — At least four bodies were Tuesday recovered from the rambles of a 3-storey building that collapsed in Murang’a.
According to police, an unknown number of workers were trapped in the building.
Murang’a County Commissioner Patrick Mukuria said four other people were rescued alive and rushed for treatment at the Murang’a County referral hospital.
“So far four bodies have been recovered from the scene and the search and rescue mission is underway to look for other people believed to have been trapped inside,” Mukuria said.
He pointed out that information from the construction site command center indicated that 14 people were reported to be in the building when it collapsed.
He said a multi-agency team comprised of Disaster Response Unit, Red Cross, fire brigade and security agents are at the scene in efforts to search and rescue.
Murang’a County Police Commander David Kainga said the owner of the building, the contractor and foreman had been arrested and will be charged for causing the deaths.
He said the officers from National Construction Authority (NCA) have launched investigations into the collapse of the building.
Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata exonerated himself from the blame, saying the building plan was approved by the previous administration.
Kang’ata said the documents for the approval and plan of the building could not be traced from his office, claiming it could have been a corrupt deal.
He said he has taken an action to have the officer in charge of physical planning removed from office claiming he was engaged in corrupt deals.
He also said the county in collaboration with NCA will conduct an audit on all the ongoing constructions.
According to some of the witnesses, a loud bang was heard and a cloud of dust covered the area when the building collapsed.
Police had a difficult time in controlling the huge crowd which had gathered at the scene trying to rescue those who were trapped inside.
Some of the witnesses however say the building was being constructed at a high speed which could have largely contributed to its collapse.
Others said the building was built on a wet land as the ground it sits on was swampy and not fit to hold such a structure.
They pointed an accusing finger at the county government for approving the construction of the building on swampy land saying those who approved its plans should be held answerable.
Cases of collapse of buildings under construction are common in urban areas and is blamed on among others greediness.
