Witnesses have revealed the last moments of five people who were on Monday, December 2 killed after a perimeter wall collapsed in Miritini, Jomvu, Mombasa County, that left three others nursing injuries.
According to the residents, the five had attended a burial ceremony sheltered close to the wall surrounding a nearby factory which collapsed after a heavy downpour.
A baby and three women were killed on the spot while another died while being treated at a local private hospital, witnesses said.
“The rain became too much. When the downpour became heavy, they went to shelter themselves besides the wall which collapsed on them within no time,” said Tembo Robert, a witness.
Hamisi Buhero, a resident in Miritini added, “There is a child with a broken arm, the woman suffered a fracture around her waist while another man also suffered severe fractures.”
Locals faulted the county government of Mombasa for not taking action against rogue contractors, claiming it’s a second incident in that area.
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Wall collapse in Mombasa leaves five dead
Juma Abdhalla said that days ago, another collapsed section of the wall left people injured, adding that there are some people who are currently in the Intensive Care Unit nursing serious injuries
“Up to now, the County Government officers came and accessed the area but why did they not secure the whole perimeter wall?” he questioned.
However, Mombasa County executive member for transport and infrastructure Daniel Manyala said action will be taken against all those found culpable.
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He pointed that some sections of the wall had additional layers which could have led to the collapse while warning contractors against violating construction guidelines.
“This should serve as a warning to contractors overseeing such constructions without following the laid down regulations. We have seen that there were some sections of the wall where extra layers were added, this could have led to the collapse,” he said.
The Kenya Red Cross had earlier in a statement said that two people had been rescued while one person remained trapped under the rubble for more than an hour. At the time, the humanitarian organization said no deaths were reported.
Forecast
The wall collapse following a heavy downpour in Mombasa comes at a time the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) expects rainfall to continue in several parts of the country including the Coast region.
KMD in a forecast for the week starting November 29 to December 3 said that isolated heavy rainfall events are likely to occur over some parts of the Highlands West of the Rift Valley, the Rift Valley, the South-eastern lowlands and the Coast during the first half of the forecast period.
However, daytime temperatures in parts of the Coast and North-eastern Kenya will hit highs exceeding 32°C.
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