The building that collapsed in Namba Nane area in Gachie had been condemned by the county physical planning department, Kiambu Governor James Nyoro has said.
The five storey building was under construction when it caved in at around 2pm on Monday. Ten people have so far been rescued.
Total number of fatalities stands at three after one person succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment on Tuesday morning. Two bodies were later retrieved from the rubble.
Six others were treated and discharged while three survivors are still in hospital in stable condition.
Between three and five people are said to be still buried under the rubble. They are believed to have been in the lower floors undertaking painting and welding jobs.
Nyoro said the owner of the building Micheal Mbugua, who is said to have close links with officers in the national government, is being sort.
“We had written to the owner of the building in July, a letter that we will soon make public, asking him to stop the construction as he did not have plan approval, but he did not heed to our call,” Nyoro said.
The governor said they moved to court after Mbugua failed to avail approvals of the building within seven days as directed. The foreman was then arrested but had not been produced in court.
“We have been looking for the owner for a long time to no avail and after seven days the foreman at the construction site was arrested but had not been produced in court. We will follow up and make sure justice is served,” Nyoro said.
The governor said there are many buildings under construction in Kiambu but the county government is unable to follow up on enforcement especially for those in the interior parts of the county. Nyoro said they were working on modalities on how to do it going forward.
“We have formed a geographic information system to be able to know constructions going on and at the same time we will use our MCAs, village council and village administrators to help in oversighting to ensure law and order is followed,” he said.
National disaster management unit director Duncan Ochieng said they received a report of a building that had collapsed at 2.30pm and mobilised the response team which includes national disaster unit, national operation centre, National Youth Service, Nairobi and Kiambu counties fire department services, Red Cross and St John's ambulance services and other emergency responders.
“So far, the teams have managed to rescue 10 people who have been taken to hospital where six have been discharged. As at now, we are not sure how many people are under the rubble and recovery efforts are ongoing,” Ochieng said.
Survivor Patrick Njuguna said he was doing welding on the first floor when the building collapsed.
“I was lucky to be rescued,” Njuguna said.
He added that he was working with two other colleagues on that floor who he has not seen meaning they might still be trapped.
Robert Mugeri said when the building collapsed he was going to a shop. But when he arrived at the scene, he went in and was able to rescue two people from under the rubble.
“I went over to the scene and heard some screams. I was able to remove two people before the rescue team came and took over,” he said.
Neighbours said the owner of the building, which was being built at a fast pace, had been advised to halt the construction several times when it was at third floor as it had started sinking on one side.
-Edited by SKanyara