Three bodies have so far been recovered from the rubble of the three-storey building which collapsed in Murang’a town Monday evening.
The building which was still under construction came crumbling down trapping an unknown number of workers.
According to Murang’a County Commissioner Patrick Mukuria, four people were rescued alive and are receiving treatment at the Murang’a County referral hospital.
“So far three bodies have been recovered from the scene and the search and rescue mission is underway to look for other people believed to have been trapped inside,” Mukuria said.
Mukuria added that 14 people were reported to be in the building when it collapsed according to information from the site command center.
“Seven people have been accounted for but seven more are yet to be traced,” he said.
The County Commissioner said a multi-agency team compromised of the Disaster Response Unit, Red Cross, fire brigade and security agents are at the scene.
Murang’a county commander David Kainga said the owner of the building, the contractor and the foreman have been arrested and charged in court for causing the death of the three.
He said officers from National Construction Authority (NCA) and National Building (NBI)have launched an investigation into the collapse of the building.
“The law is very clear and ignorance is no defence to any criminal activity. All those involved in the construction of the building shall be dealt with in accordance with the law,” Kainga said.
On his part, Murang’a governor Irungu Kang’ata exonerated himself from blame saying the building plan was approved by the previous county government.
Kang’ata said the documents for the approval and plan of the building could not be traced in his office claiming this could have been a corrupt deal.
“The approval for the building was done before we got to the office but we could also not trace the documents,” he said.
He however said he has taken the first action to have the officer in charge of physical planning removed from office claiming he was engaged in corrupt deals.
“We will also go after all those involved in the approval of the buildings in an unprocedural manner and they will be facing the law,” he said.
Kang’ata also said the county in collaboration with NCA and NBI will conduct an audit on all the ongoing constructions.
Witnesses say they heard a loud bang and saw a cloud of dust covering the area when the building collapsed.
Police had a difficult time controlling the huge crowd which had gathered at the scene trying to rescue those who were trapped inside.
Some of the witnesses however say the building was being constructed quickly which could have largely contributed to it collapsing.
“The workers were working day and night and the slab was not been given enough time to harden,” John Maina, one of the residents, said.
Others said the building was built on a wetland as the area it sits on was swampy and not fit to hold such a structure.
They pointed an accusing finger at the county government for approving the construction of the building on a wetland, saying those who approved its plans should be held answerable.
