Over 700 buildings in Kenya death traps – NCA report

Some 723 buildings in the country have been marked as very dangerous by the National Construction Authority, meaning those living in them await disaster. NCA’s findings are from an assessment of 14,895 buildings conducted in 2018. From the assessed buildings, 10,791 were found to be very unsafe and either needed to be demolished or reinforced before occupation. Another 1,217 were found to be fair and only 2,194 certified safe. There are also thousands of unapproved buildings in Nairobi at risk of collapse, according to the data. The report released this year recorded over 87 cases of collapsed buildings in the last five years. In one case last year, seven pupils at Precious Talent Top School in Nairobi’s, Dagoretti area died when the building came down on September 23. The incident that witnesses say happened so fast left five dead on the spot after the two-storey building collapsed on them. Two more later succumbed to their injuries. Sixty-four others who were trapped underneath the piles of wood and iron sheets were rushed to the hospital. Most of the victims were Standard 5 to 8 pupils whose lessons had already begun, but the parents of all the 800 students in the school had to find new schools for their children. City buildings inspectorate blamed the incident on contractors using substandard materials and poor workmanship. A year later, investigations are still ongoing with no evidence to institute a prosecution. Barely two months after the incident, five more people died after a six-storey building in Tassia, Embakassi area collapsed. Source: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2020-10-20-over-700-buildings-in-kenya-death-traps-nca-report/