State to send in experts to probe cement silo collapse

By JOSEPH MASHA

Kilifi County

The Government will deploy civil engineers to assess and issue a technical report on the collapse of a silo belonging to the Mombasa Cement Factory in Kilifi County.

The Monday afternoon accident killed one person and injured four others.

Kilifi acting DC Christopher Siele said it was after the assessment of the building by the technical team that the cause of its collapse would be determined.

Speaking to The Standard in Kilifi, Siele said: "The cause of the collapse will only be made known once the civil engineers give their report."

Kilifi OCPD Clamet Wangai said the silo could have collapsed due to an overload or poor workmanship during its construction. However, he said it was the duty of the experts to carry out their investigations.

The police boss said by the time the silo collapsed, it was 93 per cent full of cement processing raw materials. "The silo was 93 per cent loaded when its walls cracked and later collapsed," said Wangai.

He said a senior manager at the factory is said to have died while four other people were rushed to Mombasa Hospital and Kilifi District Hospital for treatment.

A rescue team from the Kenya Red Cross Society, fire fighters from Kilifi Town Council and those from the factory have been removing debris to find out if there are people trapped in the collapsed silo.

According to a senior officer at the firm, Wilson Wambua, the factory accommodates about 300 workers when it is at its full operational capacity.

Wambua said the factory opened its gates for operation around last October and said its operations would be suspended until the necessary repairs are done. He further said The Standard that the cracks on the silo walls had been noticed earlier but it collapsed before the repair works began.