Man dies in freak building mishap

One person died and two others escaped with minor injuries when a stone they were trying to remove slipped.

Reports indicate that Steve Ngaira and his brothers, Emmanuel John and Zachariah Sasala, were paid to help move a large stone to pave the way for the construction of a house.

“The person who bought the land at Kambi ya Mwanza centre contracted us to dig around the stone which was hindering construction of a house he wanted to put up,” said John.

He said the contractor had been trying to move the four-metre-high deeply embedded stone for the past one week. He had paid the three brothers to do the job and the stone shifted suddenly as they were digging around it.

“The person who contracted us to excavate the stone agreed to pay us Sh20,000 which we saw as a good deal since we did not have any other job and have to fend for our families,” said John.

Their brother died shortly after sounding a warning that the stone was shifting and that they should get out of the trench they had been digging.

Instead, the stone shifted to his side.

“We moved out thinking our brother was safe only to find him trapped under the stone. We were confused and had no tools to help us move it,” said John.

Local leaders demanded that the contractor who had hired the brothers pay compensation for the death.

“The place where the incident occurred is owned by an individual and not a company. Investigations should be done to ascertain who issued the contract and the victim should be compensated. In future, before engaging in such activities one must have insurance,” said Butali/Chegulo ward rep Kevin Mahelo.

Other leaders blamed the incident on joblessness among the youth in the area.

“We have two factories, West Kenya Sugar Company and Butali Sugar Company, which create job opportunities. Such incidents are happening because of unemployment and leaders need to assist youths get jobs and venture into business,” said Kabras East ward Rep Anaswa Lazarus.

“They had dug a ditch of 15 feet and intended to push the stone in it, but unfortunately it fell on one of them and he died on the spot,” said Malava sub-county Deputy County Commissioner Patrick Meso.