NAIROBI – One person has been killed and several others are injured after a six-storey residential building collapsed in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
City officials say 22 survivors have been pulled from the rubble of the building, situated in Nairobi’s Haruma neighbourhood, but say it’s unclear how many others are trapped.
The building collapse sparked a major rescue operation involving scores of police, city officials and medical workers.
Medical workers say about 22 people have been admitted to local hospitals.
Speaking to Capital FM radio, Nairobi county official Tom Odongo said the six floors of the building were all occupied and a seventh was under construction.
He said the upper floors had been built in quick succession, putting pressure on the lower floors, and added that the construction had not been permitted by local authorities.
Large numbers of residents have also swarmed to the site, volunteering to dig in the rubble with their bare hands, although crowds have been pushed away by police as heavy lifting machinery and official rescue teams are brought in.
