A three storey residential building in Kericho town collapsed Tuesday night killing a six-year-old boy who was trapped in the rubble.
The Kericho County Police Commander (CPC), Silas Gichunge speaking to KNA at the scene on Wednesday, said the boy who had remained unaccounted for after tenants abandoned the building was found by rescuers trapped within the stairs in the building that had collapsed during heavy rains.
Gichunge said that six families were living in the three storey building and before the building collapsed some of the families had moved out while others were in the process of moving out.
The CPC said that the incident occurred between 7.30 and 8, 00 pm last night during a heavy downpour.
He said that investigations into the cause of the incident had been launched. Gichunge advised tenants to be vigilant and report buildings that poses danger to the lives of its occupants to the relevant authorities.
A resident in one of adjacent buildings who did not want to reveal his identity said huge visible cracks had started developing on the building, noting that on Tuesday morning the building started sinking.
She suspected the owner of the building, Charles Chalgano, a contractor in the town, had built an underground sewer below the building and a car park on the ground floor.
The Kericho Sub-County Police Commander, Patrick Olonyi Nandi last night denied press reports in a section of the media that hundreds were trapped in the building located along Taita Toweett Avenue. Olonyi said that most of the tenants had moved out moments before the building collapsed.
The body of the deceased boy was moved to Kericho referral hospital mortuary.
A Red Cross Society official at the site of the building who spoke to KNA from the scene said that they had not found anyone trapped in the building and that an excavator has been moved to the site to help in removing the rubble.
By Dominic Cheres
