New details have emerged regarding the events preceding the collapse of the Uthiru building that housed 34 tenants.
The landlady, as well as the tenants, had noticed cracks in the building earlier in the day on Tuesday but the first engineer assessed the building and claimed that it was safe.
In a message the landlady later sent to the tenants' Whatsapp Group, she expressed worry that the heavy rains had affected backfilling soil sipping into the floor.
"Hi All. Engineer Chege has been and inspected the building. He stated that the building structure is safe. Due to the heavy rainfall, backfilling soil has soaked through, thus the floor breakage," read the message in part.
"I am concerned for all of us and I would not wish for anything wrong with our building. Please don’t hesitate to call me if you have any concerns."
Shortly after, the landlady informed the tenants that she had enlisted the services of another engineer for a second opinion over the safety of the storey building.
"I’ve booked another engineer to give us a second opinion. He will be here 8 am (on Wednesday)," she added.
The four-storey building, located along Naivasha Road in Nairobi, collapsed at around 8:00 pm. Fortunately, no life was lost.
Shortly after the collapse, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja revealed that the county emergency team was at the scene with assistance from locals.
When they arrived, four tenants had been reported missing but were later accounted for four as rescue efforts included the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) from Kahawa Barracks.
"The Nairobi City County Government is providing immediate humanitarian aid for the night and plans to provide further support and facilitate reintegration," a statement from Sakaja revealed.
The Kenya Red Cross, which participated in the response, also revealed that one of the female tenants was taken to hospital while some tenants sustained minor injuries.
