20 families evacuated after building develops cracks in Kirinyaga

Twenty families have been evacuated after a building they were living in in Kutus town in Kirinyaga started cracking.

Government officials ordered the families out of the building on Tuesday fearing that it could collapse as a result of the cracks.

The CEC for Lands, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Samuel Kanjobe, said the county took the move after receiving the reports from the public.

Kanjobe said the government issued a three-day evacuation notice after the cracking persisted.

Residents blamed the emergence of the fault lines on construction activities going on in a neighbouring building.

The cracking building was constructed in the 1970s.

“We sent our team composed of structural engineers, architects and building inspectors to this plot that was built a while ago in the late 70s and the complaint was about an adjacent building which had caused the old building to develop a fault line and we issued a stoppage notice,” Kanjobe said. 

Kanjobe said the proprietor of the storey building was ordered to discontinue construction until some structural issues claimed to be affecting the neighbouring building were addressed.

“We received further reports at around 5.15 pm on Tuesday that numerous fault lines had developed and that we decided to have an emergency evacuation,” Kajombe said.

He said further scrutiny will be conducted on the two buildings before a conclusive report is done.

The report, he added, will address the possible causes of the cracks.

About a week ago, a 40-year-old widow died after a house that was under construction collapsed at Karia area in Kerugoya town.

The late Lydiah Wawira was sleeping in her house with her two children aged 16 and 10 when a neighbouring three story building that was under construction collapsed at midnight.

Her third child was not at home at the time of the accident.

The rubbles of the collapsing building landed on her house. A section of her house also collapsed following the impact and weight of the rubbles killing her.

The children survived as they were in a different bedroom.