Death toll from building collapse in Kenya rises to 4

December 19, 2014

NAIROBI, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from collapsed residential building in Kenya's capital Nairobi has risen to four after three more bodies were pulled out of the rubble, a humanitarian agency said on Thursday.

The Kenya Red Cross Society said another person was also rescued alive with minor injuries and treated at scene before being transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital for further diagnosis.

"Three bodies were recovered last night. Fatalities stand at 4. Search and rescue are ongoing," Red Cross said after a five-storey building collapsed on Wednesday.

Reports said 13 people remain unaccounted for. Rescuers reported an explosion from electricity transformer at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, which shortly halted the rescue operations before reverting to artificial Generator lighting.

The faulty transformer was quickly rectified by Kenya Power. Multi-agency rescue operations are still ongoing.

Some of the victims told Xinhua at the Kenyatta National Hospital that majority of the victims were students studying in various colleges in Nairobi.

One of the victims, Kenneth Rubia said the students resided there due to its proximity and pocket friendly rent charges and were asleep when the accident happened.

Rescue officials from China's largest supplier of construction machinery, XCMG, Kenya Red Cross Society, National City Fire Brigade, National Youth Service and the Kenya National Disaster Operation combined efforts to rescue the victims.

XCMG joined rescue operations on Wednesday. The company donated a Truck_crane/ 'target='_blank' style='color:blue;'>Truck Crane and manpower to help clear debris at the site of the collapsed apartment.

"We have a duty to help people in need and answered a distress call when the building collapsed. This tragedy affects Kenyans and their foreign allies," XCMG Kenya Managing Director, Zhang Xianxiang told Xinhua at the scene.

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