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Several people are missing and others are feared trapped after a multistorey building under construction collapsed in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, on Friday, triggering a major rescue operation.
The building came down at about 1:00 p.m. local time in Eastleigh, one of Nairobi’s busiest commercial districts, reducing the structure to a huge pile of concrete and twisted steel.
Authorities said two people were rescued with injuries and taken to Kenyatta National Hospital, while dozens of others escaped unharmed, according to Al Jazeera.
However, at least 11 people who were inside businesses operating on the ground floor remain unaccounted for.
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Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kipchumba Murkomen, said the basement and ground floor had been rented to an electronics shop, a butchery and a grocery store despite the building still being under construction.
“The good news is that the rescue team, which includes the national government, county government and the Red Cross, has made contact with some of the survivors who are still trapped inside,” Murkomen said.
Rescuers worked through piles of rubble using excavators and makeshift poles stripped from nearby trees as efforts continued into the night.
Heavy machinery was slow to arrive at the scene, complicating rescue operations.
Questions have emerged over how people were allowed to occupy the building before construction was completed.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said the structure had been approved for construction but had not been issued with a certificate of occupation, making the operation of businesses on the premises illegal.
“Our concern is to save lives,” Sakaja said.
One survivor, Joseph Kaula, a plasterer who had been working on the fifth floor, told the Associated Press he was the last person to leave the building before it collapsed.
“The whole area was filled with dust,” he said.
Relatives of those believed to be trapped gathered at the scene, with some saying their loved ones managed to make phone calls for help shortly after the collapse before their phones became unreachable.
Authorities set up a tent where families could report missing relatives.
Local media also reported incidents of looting immediately after the collapse, prompting police to fire tear gas to disperse crowds.
Authorities have launched rescue efforts while investigations into the cause of the collapse continue.
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