Authorities end search and rescue efforts at Murang’a collapsed building

Search and rescue crews have ended their work at the site of a collapsed Sun Star Hotel building in Murang’a County.

The move to call off the four-day operation comes after two construction workers, believed to have been buried in the rubble, emerged Monday afternoon.

Stephen Musembi, a plumber at the ill-fated building, was the first one to appear. He narrated how he, alongside his colleague at the site, ‘miraculously’ escaped unhurt as the building started coming down.

“Yesterday (Sunday), I heard one person who had been rescued from the rubble saying two of us are still missing. And he meant me and my colleague Ndung’u. He didn’t know we came out alive. That is why I have come here to confirm that we are well,” said Musembi who had gone all the way to his rural home in Machakos County after the tragedy.

Musembi disclosed that he has been staying alone since the awful incident took place, wondering whether his colleagues came out alive as he did.

The re-appearance of the two means that the eight people who had been marked as missing after the incident occurred can be accounted for. The teams that have been in the tragedy site since Friday could be seen leaving the scene after Monday’s developments.

Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and other agencies however continue active probe into what might have led to the building collapse.

There is also the issue of the four-story building next to the one that collapsed.  Will it be brought down as ordered by Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, and Urban Development Cabinet Secretary James Macharia?

“We are not moving away from the site completely. We still have some work to do. We await the go-ahead from the National Constructions Authority. So far, this site has been marked as unsafe. We need to ascertain whether the collapse affected the nearby building and whether it needs to be brought down as well,” Muthui Gitonga, the Public Health officer said

The incident claimed six lives and left two others with serious life-threatening injuries.  One of them was rescued alive Sunday after spending three days under the rubble.

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