A 40-year-old woman died after a house that was under construction collapsed at Karia in Kerugoya town, Kirinyaga county, on Wednesday.
Lydiah Wawira was asleep in the house with her two children aged 16 and 10 when a neighbouring three-storey building that was under construction collapsed at midnight.
Her third child was not home at the time of the accident.
The rubble of the collapsing building landed on Wawira's house. A section of her house also collapsed following the impact of the rubble, killing her.
“The children survived as they were in a different bedroom,” said Kirinyaga Deputy Governor David Githanda who addressed the media at the scene.
The deputy governor said county engineers and officials from the department of Land and Public Works had started investigations to establish the cause of the collapse.
“Though it is a public holiday, all these officials have been summoned back to work so that they can launch investigations. They will thereafter compile a report as quickly as possible on what led to the collapse,” he said.
Kirinyaga county police commander Andrew Naibei said they will liaise with the relevant authorities including engineers and Nema in the investigations.
“Meanwhile we are waiting for the technical team so that we get the report, compile and finalise our investigations,” he said.
Naibei said they already obtained the contacts of the owner of the building and that police officers are tracking her whereabouts.
“We will go for her when investigations are completed,” he said.
A resident, Ziporah Wangechi, said the alarm was raised early in the morning and they rushed to the scene.
The three children have now been orphaned as their father died about a year ago.