Part of the foundation of a building along Kirinyaga road that collapsed/EZEKIEL AMING'AA construction worker at a building site that collapsed from the foundation at dawn on Wednesday along Kirinyaga Road has recounted the terrifying moments that left six of his colleagues injured.
According to the worker who witnessed the incident, an excavator was removing sand that had rolled back into a dug-out section of the foundation to pave the way for the placement of metal reinforcements.
As the tractor operated within the site, it struck one side of the wall bordering the excavation area. The impact caused the structure to weaken and eventually crumble, trapping six workers who were inside the hole.
“It was around 3:30 a.m. when everything came down,” he said.
“The wall collapsed on some of our colleagues as a result of a tractor that was removing sand from the hole for us to continue placing the metals.”
“Out of the six, two were seriously injured, while the other four sustained minor injuries,” he said.
He further said that moments after the wall gave way, a tilting drum mixer rolled into the excavation area, worsening the situation and triggering panic among those at the site.
The injured workers were rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital for treatment. Their condition had not been officially confirmed by the time of publication.
Efforts to get a comment from the site’s foreman were unsuccessful. When reached by The Star, he declined to provide details, saying he was busy and unable to speak on the matter.
According to the Nairobi County, at approximately 5.00am the building under construction collapsed at foundation level along Kirinyaga Road, near OTC in Nairobi County.
Nairobi County’s Fire and Emergency response units were immediately dispatched to the scene to conduct search and rescue operations.
Rescue and Casualty Summary: Individuals accounted for: 18. Total rescued: 18. Injured: 6 males sustained injuries during the collapse. Fatality: 0.
Following the initial rescue, a secondary, thorough search was conducted by Nairobi County's Fire and Emergency Response Team on-site to ensure no individuals remained trapped.
All 18 workers present at the site during the incident have been accounted for, and the site has been officially handed over to the OCPD Central for cordoning and to initiate a formal investigation into the cause of the collapse.
The collapse comes less than a month after a building under construction collapsed and killed two people in South C, Nairobi.
The issue is still under probe.
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