2 people dead after Nairobi building collapse; 1 missing

NAIROBI, Kenya – Two people have died after the collapse of a condemned building in a low-income area of Kenya’s capital, an official said Wednesday.

A woman who had been pulled from the rubble died from her injuries at a hospital, said the deputy director of the National Disaster Management Unit, Pius Mwachi. On Tuesday, rescuers pulled the body of a child from the rubble. The building collapsed late Monday.

The woman who died is the mother of the dead child and two other children who were rescued alive, Mwachi said.

One man is still believed to be trapped in the rubble, he said.

Building collapses are common in Nairobi, where 4 million people live in low-income areas or slums. Housing is in high demand and unscrupulous developers often bypass regulations.

After eight buildings collapsed and killed 15 people in Kenya in 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered an audit of all the country’s buildings to see if they were up to code. The National Construction Authority found that 58 per cent of buildings in Nairobi were unfit for habitation.

Last year a building collapse in another low-income area killed 37 people and injured 70. The rescue mission took days, during which a six-month-old baby and a pregnant woman were among those pulled to safety.

After that collapse, the government ordered all condemned buildings demolished and residents evacuated but the operation was never completed after media attention waned.