Tenant recounts moments before Uthiru building collapsed

A tenant residing in the building that collapsed in Uthiru on Tuesday night has given an account of events leading to the incident.

The tenant who did not wish to be named, said everything happened quickly.

"On Monday, there were clear, visible cracks on the building and we brought it up with our landlady," he said.

"We have a WhatsApp group where we sent photos and videos. We had raised concerns on whether the building is safe."

The tenant said they were assured that it was safe after raising their concerns to the landlord. The landlord said an engineer had visited the premises to assess it and ascertained that the building was okay.

"She even said she would call the engineer again to check the building," he said.

"Yesterday at around 8:00 pm, 8:20 pm there, we heard people screaming so we ran out to see what was happening then we saw the building bending."

He said he rushed into the house to assist his househelp move out his children to safety.

"Some stones fell on my nanny's head but she is okay and has sought medical attention," he said.

"I then, rushed back to pick up a few things when the building started collapsing on top of me.

"I am a cyclist and I had put on my helmet to protect me when I went back but by the time I wanted to leave, the slab collapsed on me and I was lying on the floor."

He said his helmet and couch saved him as the slab had fallen to about a few centimetres above the ground.

"I was stuck for about 15 minutes but luckily people who were outside guided me using light from torches and I was able to come out of the rabble," he said.

"At least my nanny, children and myself are safe but I hope that the authorities will take necessary action and the landlady will be held accountable."

Following the collapse of the building in Uthiru Ward, Nairobi City County Chief Officer in Charge of Disaster Management and Coordination Bramwell Simiyu has confirmed the process has moved from a disaster response phase to an investigation phase.

Speaking during a media brief, Simiyu said teams on site are proceeding with the next steps of action on the basis that there are no occupants inside the building.

"As you all know, we received a report at about 8:00 pm last night about the collapse of this building that has 10 units. Last night was a disaster response exercise," he said.

"All agencies who were involved in the rescue efforts; Police, Nairobi County Disaster Management Unit, Redcross, and the Fire and Rescue team were able to respond quickly and were able to arrive on time."

Simiyu added that they established that the 34 residents in all 10 units were safe.

"We took a head count, but there were lingering doubts that there could be other people who were trapped," he said.

"We have gone through the rabble using the human detection dogs, and we have been able to confirm there has been no sign of life in the building."

Simiyu was accompanied by a multi-agency team from the National Police Service, National Government Administrative Office led by the area DCC and OCPD, KDF Disaster Response Batallion (DRB), National Disaster Management Unit, Nairobi County Technical Officers from the planning and works department.

Also present were officers from the National Construction Authority, the National Building Inspectorate and KEBS.

He also said that investigating county officials and engineers have taken over the building to assess it and establish whether the residents can access it to retrieve their properties.

"If the building is safe, then they will proceed to gain access to their belongings. If not, then the investigating authorities will take samples of the material as a due process to establish the cause of the building collapse to go on," he said.

"As we speak, authorities are on site, and the engineers are assessing the site. We shall await a report from them."

Simiyu added that DCI has engaged the residents and is currently in the process of taking statements.

He said that in the next few hours, they will receive a clear directive from the technical agencies led by the county government, housing, and planning team.

The next course of action will include bringing down the building.

"We shall be getting an update in the next few hours," Simiyu said.