Another Building Collapses in Kinoo

Tenants of a residential apartment in Kinoo, Kiambu County have been evacuated after a five-storey building collapsed, leaning on a nearby flat.

Images seen by Kenyans.co.ke show the incomplete structure leaning precariously on one side of the apartment.

According to tenants in adjacent buildings, the incident is said to have occurred on Saturday 5, at about 11.30 pm. At the time building disintegrated, nobody was in the building.

A collage of images of the construction building that collapsed and leaned on a residential apartment in Kinoo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (1).jpg

Kenyans.co.ke

Police officers were dispatched to the scene to control the scene and oversee the evacuation process to avert any lurking danger.

The information board on the site indicated that the collapsed building was approved by the National Construction Authority (NCA).

The incident comes barely months after a six-storey building partially collapsed in Kinoo on September 3, forcing it to lean on one end. Construction workers told the press that they had warned the owner of the stability of the building after it developed some cracks.

Sunday’s incident reignited conversation online on the spike in the number of buildings under construction in Kiambu caving in. While some opined that the contractors are to be blamed, others blamed it on an equivocal approval process.

However, the president Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) Engineer Nathaniel  Matalanga shed some light on why the majority of the buildings under construction in Kinoo were susceptible to crumbling.

Speaking to a local media outlet in 2021, He opined that the pedological profile of the area- majority composed of red spil- required that buildings have a very strong foundation built using quality materials.

“You cannot build a five-story structure on a narrow foundation without the service of a structural engineer, it will collapse,” Matalanga told the Standard. 

In September 2021, the Kiambu County government launched a crackdown against rogue landlords who intentionally ignored warnings issued against illegal structures that ended up collapsing.

The leaning Kinoo building that partially sunk on Friday, September 3, 2021

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