Autopsy on killed eight pupils planned for today

Postmortem on the bodies of eight pupils who died when their classroom collapsed at a Nairobi school will be done today.

Results of the examination will form the basis of charges to be preferred on those so far targeted for prosecution.

The file on the preliminary findings is likely to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions today or tomorrow, with various recommendations, officials aware of the probe said.

Detectives handling the matter said yesterday they had questioned at least 30 people, including the owner of Precious Talent School, which collapsed and killed the eight children and injured more than 60 others.

Also questioned were parents of the children that died and those injured.

Collapsed structure

The school owners were asked to provide approval documents for the collapsed structure.

Officials from City Hall’s planning department were questioned on their role in the approval of the structure that went down on Monday morning. The officers from Directorate of Criminal Investigations interrogated staff for hours at City Hall Annex, and others at the sub-county offices in Dagoretti, as they demanded to see approval documents of the structure.

“It seems there was no approval. City Hall officials never inspected the place. We will prefer a number of charges on a number of suspects,” said an official aware of the probe.

The officials also demanded to see inspection reports of the structure, if any.

Another group of forensic experts visited the site for further analysis of various exhibits. They included engineers and architects.

This was after preliminary findings pointed to the planning department at City Hall as the possible source of the mess.

Officials said the team was ready to widen its probe to other structures following reports the trend of unapproved structures shooting up in the city was rampant hence endangering many.