Death toll rises in Kisii collapsed house tragedy

Scene where a ten storey building collapsed near Ram Hospital in Kisii town on November 10,2016. The building was partly occupied and also under construction, a number of people are feared dead in the late morning tragedy. (Photo: Denish Ochieng/ Standard)

The government has confirmed the death toll in the collapsed Kisii building has risen to seven with 26 other still admitted to Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital (KTRH).

17 others have been discharged from hospital even as rescue mission continues. The government delegation in the rescue mission led by Pius Masai from the National Disaster management Unit (NDMU) says there are eight people who been reported as missing.

One person who is said to have been trapped in the rabbles has been in communication with his family until today early in the morning when his phone went off.

According to Masai, a team of Kenya Defence Forces will arrive at the scene in the afternoon to help in the rescue mission.

"We expect the officers to come with other equipment including cutters. This is a d delicate operation that requires skilled labor. We don't want to lose any further life. We have seen some chicken moving in the rubles and that means that there could be some people surviving in the rubbles," says Mr Masai.

Masai has appealed to well-wishers to donate more equipment to help in the rescue. "The county government has been promised to pay for the service but still nobody is willing to help us with more equipment," he says.

Nyanza Regional Commissioner and Police Commander, Wilson Njenga and Willy Lugusa respectively have also been camping in the area since today morning.

"We will do everything possible to bring to justice all those who could have been involved in this shoddy job. We will carry out investigations to establish what happened. We have government agencies that should deal with this matter," says Lugusa.

Kisii Governor James Ongwae says that it is unfortunate that it has taken more than 18 hours to have the officers from KDF arrive at the scene.

"It is not in order to for the Regional Commissioner to arrive ahead of the special team. This is not the time to engage in this but we must speak out," says Governor Ongwae.

The Governor says that he has been forced to seek the service of a private contractor to help in the rescue. "The county governments of Nyamira and Kisii have delivered the excavators but we need driller ad cutters to speed the recovery process," he says.

The governor later visited the causalities at Kisii Referral Hospital and also condoled with the bereaved families.

Among those who died is a 36 year old John Nyangau who was asleep in an adjacent building when the building came down.

He had just arrived in the house from his hotel where he had been working for the nightshift on Wednesday night.

His brother, Steve Nyangau has said that retrieved the body from his bedroom. "He had been covered under the rubble inside his bedroom and had some blood oozing out of his mouth," says Steve.

Rescue officers says, the other victim who perished in the incident is a middle aged man who had gone into the rubble to rescue those who had been trapped but lacked enough oxygen.

The deceased had joined other youths who were helping in the rescue mission immediately the building collapsed.

The Thursday incident has put the National Construction Authority (NCA) on the spotlight over several other similar buildings across the country that poses a threat to lives of several Kenyans.

Several houses in Kisii town have been earmarked for demolition but the owners who are referred as the 'untouchables' have in one way or the other had their way to put up the buildings under shoddy construction process.

Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire says that some of these incidents reflect the kind of leadership that the country is undergone.

"Kenyans have been dying though such tragic incidents yet nobody has been held responsible. Relevant government agencies should be put to task and explain why they have not arrested the culprits," he says.

Governor Ongwae says that the National Construction Authority has been issuing reports but they are yet to consult the County government on some of the shoddy constructions.