Nairobi News

Tenants of a building in Kware, Embakasi, were evacuated from a building on Tuesday after a scare that it was on the verge of collapsing.

This comes two weeks after another building in the neighbourhood collapsed and killed a mother and a child.

Nairobi assistant county commissioner, Embakasi Division Jackson Letangule said the seven storey building experienced blocked drainage which spilled and residents panicked after cracks appeared on the upper floors.

EVACUATED

“We have a seven storey building on the verge of collapsing, people are being evacuated as of now,”said Mr Letangule.

He said police have been deployed at the site as they wait for engineers from the county government and the National Construction Authority.

Mr Letangule added that the building is owned by a different lanlord from the one that collapsed a fortnight ago.

In a statement National Disaster Management Unit (NDMU) communication Officer Pius Masai refuted reports on social media that the building had collapsed.

FALSE STATEMENT

“False information about 7th Storey building at Kware near Pipeline area next to the previous Incident site. The building has not collapsed as earlier reported. Reliable information from Embakasi Security Agencies, the alleged 7th Storey Building is still standing,”read the statement.

Mr Moses Nyakiongora, the City Hall’s secretary of the building inspectorate, said the building was visited by National Construction Authority engineers Monday night and several cracks were seen on the upper floors.

“The ground floor could not be inspected as it was waterlogged and it was at night. To be on the safe side, evacuation was ordered to allow further inspection Tuesday,”said Mr Nyakiongora in a statement.