Kisii house death toll up as owner alleges foul play

Kenya Defence Forces, special team, carry out a survey on the collapsed building on 11.10.2016 before they started an operation to rescue people who had been trapped in the building that collapsed on Thursday leaving seven people dead. (PHOTO: ERIC ABUGA/ STANDARD)

Rescuers yesterday cut through a maze of twisted metals and shifted debris as they raced to save lives of more than 10 people still trapped in a 10-storery building that collapsed in Kisii town, killing seven.

Working with every available instrument, the rescuers got indications that some of those trapped are still alive.

Relatives of the dead wailed as survivors recounted their ordeal and the death toll rose to seven.

Oliver Gugo, one of the survivors, said he heard a cracking sound before the building, whose construction he had been supervising, came tumbling down.

But his 15-year-old brother, Brian Arisi — a Form One student at Nyangori  Secondary School in Vihiga — with whom he lived on the ground floor of the building was crushed to death during the Thursday tragedy.

His body was retrieved from the rubble three hours after the collapse. Gugo was recused from the same building but from a different room.

He was the caretaker of the building that he said was nearly complete, but he could not tell the exact number of workers at the site at the time of the tragedy.

“I have been operating a general shop where my brother was at the time of the incident. We struggled to get him out alive but he passed away unfortunately,” said Gugo.

Another victim, John Nyangau, 36, died while asleep in his rented house adjacent to the collapsed building. The wall of one side of the house crumbled when the 10-storey building collapsed on it.

His elder brother, Steve Nyangau said John had just got into the house after a night shift in their family hotel.

John’s wife Elizabeth Kinuthi had just left the house for work and their child had also left to visit his cousins in a nearby estate.

“When we heard of the incident we rushed to the scene and tried to call our brother’s phone, but he did not answer. We suspected something was wrong,” said Steve.

When the rescue team arrived, Steve says they found his brother’s body covered by the rubble.

Dennis Onderi, another survivor, said he was riding a motorbike on the Daraja Moja-Ram road when the building came down.

“I heard a loud bang and jumped off the motorbike. I thought it was a bomb. In the process I hurt my legs,” said Onderi from his hospital bed.

By yesterday afternoon, one body among the five at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary had not been identified.

But as the families mourned their loved ones, Jeremiah Matoke, the owner of the building, said he had followed all procedures in the construction.

“I was informed that some people were seen around the building on Tuesday night and I suspect they might have tampered with the columns,” Matoke told The Standard on Saturday on phone.

He said the building had been under construction for eight years and there had been no sign of its collapse. Seventeen other survivors have been discharged from hospital even as the rescue mission continues. The government delegation in the rescue, led by Pius Masai from the National Disaster Management Unit (NDMU), said eight people had been reported missing.

One person trapped in the ruins had been in communication with his family until yesterday morning when his phone went off.

The incident has put the National Construction Authority (NCA) and developers on the spotlight over several other buildings across the country that pose a threat to Kenyans.

The Association of Construction Managers yesterday warned developers against risking the lives of Kenyans by employing unqualified individuals who provide cheap services.

Association Chairman Nashon Okowa said the government and other responsible authorities have ignored their role to regulate constructions, despite the recurrence of tragic collapses that have killed many Kenyans.

“The incessant loss of lives and damage to property and investments should long have been a wake-up call to the national and county governments to streamline the building sector,” Okowa said in a statement.

The association said Kenya stands to lose potential investors if responsible institutions fail to implement building by-laws and ensure they are adhered to.

It recognised, however, that Kenya’s construction industry is infiltrated by quacks who masquerade as building consultants, and warned developers against falling into the schemes of such people who put their investments in danger.

“We ask that developers engage only qualified contractors and recognise that undermining the integrity of their construction projects puts at risk the lives of innocent civilians and damage to property,” said Okowa.