Panic and fear gripped residents of Itierio, Suneka on Sunday, April 6, after a three-storey building under construction collapsed, trapping several people beneath the rubble.
The building which is located next to Itierio Mixed Primary School also fell onto nearby houses and businesses, causing extensive damage.
Emergency teams from the Kisii County Government and the police responded to the scene, launching a search and rescue operation.
A senior police officer said they were not able to identify what caused the building to collapse, however, nothing that they were expecting officials from the National Construction Authority (NCA).
“Five people have been rescued and taken to different hospitals within this town. We are working around the clock to ensure that we rescue the remaining people.
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"At the moment I cannot give further information about the cause as we are waiting for the National Construction Authority (NCA), who will tell us what caused the building to collapse," the officer said.
Residents in the area have been urged to keep calm and stay away from the site as rescue operations continue.
Notably, this comes months after one person was trapped, and two others rescued after a building under construction collapsed in Majengo, Mombasa County.
Confirming the incident on Monday, November 11, the Kenya Red Cross disclosed that a multi-agency team was on site conducting rescue operations.
"A building under construction in Majengo, Mombasa County has collapsed. Two people have been rescued, while one person is feared trapped.
"A multi-agency response team, including the Kenya Police, County Government of Mombasa and the Kenya Red Cross, is currently conducting search and rescue operations," Kenya Red Cross stated.
