Families camp at City Mortuary in search of missing relatives after Huruma tragedy

Relatives of missing victims from the collapsed building yesterday flocked to the Nairobi City Mortuary as hopes of finding their kin alive diminished.

A family from Kisumu gathered at the mortuary after a frantic search for three relatives who had been missing since the Friday incident.

"Various family members have been checking in at the mortuary to try and see whether the bodies of three of our relatives have been brought here," said Karen Ouma, a cousin to those who are missing.

Evans Kawawa (32), Cynthia Adhiambo (20) and  aby Brian (7 months old) were in the building before it collapsed.

Family members suspected that they might still be trapped in the debris, even as they searched for them at the mortuary.

"We have come here in search of our three missing relatives and we are waiting to be allowed into the mortuary to try and identify them if possible," said Dr Ouma.

Ouma said Mr Kawawa's wife had telephoned her to tell her about the tragedy on Friday from her hospital bed at Kenyatta National Hospital where she had been hospitalised.

"Evans's wife narrowly escaped death on Friday but she was injured on the leg. After she regained consciousness, she called me and I was able to alert other family members," she said.

distraught father

She added: "We camped at KNH on Friday night hoping and praying that our family members would be brought in as survivors but all in vain. We decided to go to to the site where the incident occurred. We were later informed that the bodies could only be identified at the City Mortuary and we've been here ever since."

Kawawa's father, Daniel Odhiambo, was a distraught man as he sought answers to his children's whereabouts.

"I received a call on Friday from my son's wife telling me that a disaster had occurred. I couldn't sleep through the night, praying that my family made it out alive. However, that was God's will but we will continue searching," said Mr Odhiambo.

He travelled from Kisumu to Nairobi where he joined other family members at the mortuary.

"Evans is my first born child and Cynthia the second. I am totally confused as I wait to enter the mortuary to try and see if they are there. People at home are also waiting for any information from our end," he said.

The family lashed out at the Government over its laxity in responding to the disaster, saying that more lives would have been saved had they responded in time.

"Disaster management by the Government is very slow. During the day, bodies are excavated slowly but at night, they scoop them very fast and I do not know what they expect to gain from that," said Kawawa's brother, Alfred.