Woman recalls final moments with mother trapped in debris

By Rushdie Oudia

Juliet Raphael narrates how she communicated with her mother who was trapped, on phone, before she died. Her body was retrieved on Thursday.  [PHOTOS: COLLINS ODUOR/STANDARD]

KISUMU; KENYA: “My daughter, I am okay, but if I do not make it, just know that I love you so much and will miss you.”

These were the last words Juliet Raphael’s mother told her when they spoke on telephone late Wednesday night.

Juliet’s mother is one of the victims who by noon were still trapped in the ill-fated building that collapsed on Wednesday evening in Kisumu County.

Juliet recalled how on that fateful day, alongside her mother, they had planned to go shopping for various household goods. Pained, she narrated how her mother had requested her to accompany her to the market.

Her mother, a businesswoman in Kisumu, had always done her shopping at Tuskys Supermarket and also at Nakumatt Mega City because of its proximity to Nyalenda estate, where they live.

But on the fateful day, she decided to go to Yatin Supermarket along Jomo Kenyatta Road for shopping. The two set out despite desperate attempts by Juliet that they go shopping where they usually do.

“I tried to tell my mum to let me go alone but she refused, I did not know that death was beckoning my beloved mother,” she said.

Bought sandals

The two would later pass through Oile market, which is near the Kisumu Bus Park. Juliet’s mother bought her lovely sandals, which she showed us, as tears rolled down her cheeks. 

After buying the sandals, they headed to Yatin Supermarket to get the shopping before going home.  She remembered shopping with her mother as they laughed; not knowing it was the last moment they were sharing.

“She even asked me, nyathina idwachamo ang’o? (My child what would you want to eat today?),” said Juliet sadly.  She would then pass the building moments before it came down to wait for a tuk tuk that would take them home.  At this point, she was with her niece when they called her mother to ask why she had taken long to come with the tuk tuk.

Dashed to scene

No sooner had she disconnected the call than she had screams followed by a bang that shook her, making her mobile phone to drop.

“At that point, I saw the building come down and the first thing that came to my mind was where my mother was,” narrated Juliet.

I quickly dashed to the scene to see what had happened and tried to call my mother, who was nowhere to be seen. It was around half past seven and Juliet had not heard from her mother. This made her worried but she hoped her mother would communicate soon.

At around midnight her phone rang. It was her mother’s number. She quickly received it with relief hoping her mother would appear anytime.  Juliet said her mother told her she was trapped alongside three other people on the left side of the building next to a bungalow.

Juliet’s mother told her daughter that one of the trapped victims had died and the others were not likely to make it since sand was quickly covering them.  Juliet’s mother is said to have been using a flashlight on her phone to look at the victims, as her body from the waist down remained trapped in the debris.

“Nimekuwacha lakini si kwa ubaya toto, (I have left you but it is not my wish my child),” Juliet’s mother said through her phone with a weak voice as a result of the dust and sand particles she had inhaled.

As she spoke to The Standard, Juliet kept her hopes high that her mother would be rescued alive. “I know she is ok, because she promised me she would be strong for me, I know she is alive,” she said.  However, she got more worried when her mother stopped answering her phone. She attempted to call a number of times, but it was in vain.

Combing debris

Juliet, who is a Computer student at a college within the town, could not hold back her tears as she shouted that she wanted to see her mother earlier in the morning, pointing to the area she thought her mother had been trapped.

This was the place where the bulldozer was combing the debris to find those who were trapped.  “You will kill my mother, you will kill my mother,” shouted Juliet, as she was held back by Red Cross officials. Juliet soon lost hope of her mother’s survival.

She revealed that her mother had struggled to conceive and even ruled out possibility of ever delivering, before she gave birth to her.

“I was her only child and special because she got me after a long struggle,” she said amid sobs. Her mother’s body was retrieved at 1.30pm and taken to the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral mortuary.  As rescue operations continued into the night, two arms belonging to two different trapped victims were recovered from the debris.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that the death toll has risen to seven. Mid last year, a four-storey building in Mlolongo, Mavoko County, caved in burying construction workers inside it. Such tragedies have been blamed on negligence by contractors with the Government urging those engaged in construction to exercise caution.