KDF officers arrive at site of collapsed Uthiru building

The military on Wednesday joined a search and rescue mission at a collapsed building in the Uthiru area of ​​Nairobi.

Although other officials said all 34 tenants of the collapsed building had been located, others said they have not yet gained access to the ground floor.

This prompted the rescue team to seek help from Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) personnel, who they said were experienced.

Nairobi police commander Adamson Bungei said search teams had not yet accessed and searched the ground floor that had been submerged after the collapse.

“They are here to help pacify the site,” he said.

For the mission, the teams use, among others, sniffer dogs.

The five-story building collapsed Tuesday afternoon and the tenants were still there.

This has been attributed to the heavy rains that have been experienced in the country.

But authorities said they are investigating the incident.

Nairobi Disaster Management director Bramwel Simiyu said no casualties have been reported from the incident.

He allayed fears of four missing residents, who previously included a 10-year-old girl, saying concerns had been allayed.

“The building was slowly sinking and all the residents were able to jump and make it out of the building,” Simiyu said.

However, he said the county government’s emergency team will continue to search the area.

Simiyu said there is a house with a gas flame that was allowed to burn safely.

“The county government is providing immediate humanitarian aid for the night and plans to provide further support and facilitate reintegration,” he said.

The incident occurred on Naivasha Road near the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

The floods have killed more than 240 people and displaced thousands.

This has forced, among other things, the official opening of schools in the country to be postponed.

The government is racing to address the crisis of those trapped by raging waters amid fears of a cholera outbreak.

On Tuesday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki ordered the evacuation of more than 200 families from Kijabe villages over the threat of landslides.