KIAMBU, Kenya, Nov 17 – A couple died after a building under construction in Ruaka, Kiambu County collapsed on their house Thursday morning.
The six-storey building at Old Ruaka Road came down at 3.30 am as the man and woman were asleep at their iron sheet house adjacent to the construction site.
Kiambu governor Kimani Wamatangi visited the scene to condole with the family.
He regretted that the county cases of buildings collapsing in the country had become common.
“We have agreed to sit down a find immediate ways of addressing this menace. We cannot continue to lose innocent lives like this,” he said.
He said initial investigations have shown the contractor did not comply with construction regulations.
Kiambu County Commissioner Joshua Nkanathan said there was little possibility of people being trapped under the rubbles.
He said none was at the site at the time of the incident.
The latest incident comes two days after another multi-storey building under construction collapsed in Kasarani area, killing at least three people.
The two incidents happened two months after five people lost their lives in Kirigiti near Kiambu town after a seven-storey building under construction collapsed.
The building also fell on nearby houses killing five, among them a woman and two children.
Their three children were unhurt as they live in another house in the compound.
Watchmen who were guarding the site escaped unhurt.
The incidents are blamed on greediness and corruption in the industry.
After eight buildings collapsed and killed 15 people in Kenya in 2015, the presidency ordered an audit of all the country’s buildings to see if they were up to code. The National Construction Authority found that 58 percent of the buildings in Nairobi were unfit for habitation.
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