Two eight-storey blocks have collapsed. USAR firefighters on rescue operation at the site [PHOTOS]
The collapse of an eight-storey building in the Kenyan town of Ngong claimed the lives of four workers. For several days now, teams of firefighters from the USAR in Nairobi and the NDMU unit have been working at the site of the collapse.
The first message reaches the USAR firefighters: an eight-story building under construction has collapsed in the Ole Nairi area of Oloolua, Kajiado County. Four people are trapped beneath the rubble. Time is running out.
Gedion Owiti, the operation commander, immediately tries to activate emergency procedures. He encounters administrative obstacles – the collapse occurred outside Nairobi County, and an official request for assistance has not yet been submitted. Owiti decides to act anyway.
“I asked the inspector to call our chief and sent him his number. He never called. I’m going there without an invitation,” recalls Gedion Owiti.
Several minutes later, the issue is resolved – Chief Bramwell personally calls Owiti with official authorization. Fifteen rescuers are dispatched to the scene.
Night on the Rubble
By the evening of the same day, the team is the only active rescue unit at the disaster site.
“Only our Nairobi team is working. No victims have been found yet,”
says Owiti.
Rafał Własinowicz, a Polish instructor who has been training the Kenyan team for years, tries to provide remote guidance on how best to handle the situation.
Second Day: Excavators, Dogs, and a Polish Instructor
“Operations were suspended yesterday at 9:00 p.m. due to lack of lighting. We slept on site. We resumed at 8:00 a.m. Rubble removal is ongoing. We now have two excavators. We are fully committed,” reports Gedion Owiti.
That day, Albert Kościński – a Polish USAR instructor – arrived at the scene. His account is harrowing: the disaster affected two buildings. One eight-story structure collapsed completely. In the second building, five floors gave way. The four workers who were reportedly in a residential room on the third floor at the time of the collapse are most likely still trapped beneath the debris.
Dogs from a military unit had indicated the previous day that there could still be survivors under the rubble around the third and fourth floors. Rescuers gained access to that level from the outside, but the camera revealed only a wall.
According to Kościński, the operation around the collapsed building is likely to continue for at least several more days.
“It looks exactly like Turkey,” the firefighter adds.
The comparison to Turkey – where more than 50,000 people died under the rubble during the 2023 earthquakes – says everything about the scale and nature of the disaster in Ngong.
Questions About Buildings and the Law
Kenya has struggled for years with the problem of illegal and poorly constructed buildings. The area around Ngong is subject to height restrictions due to nearby flight paths. In many zones, construction is limited to four stories. The collapsed structure, however, had eight floors.
This is not the first such disaster: in September 2022, a six-story building under construction also collapsed in the area.
It is another construction catastrophe in the Nairobi region this year. Firefighters trained by Polish instructors at the Fire and Rescue Training Centre Kenya – Firetrack, built and operated by the Polish Center for International Aid, have rescued 28 people from under rubble since the beginning of the year.
In addition to the Kajiado County Fire Brigade and the Nairobi USAR team, the operation also involves the National Disaster Management Unit (NDMU) and the Kenyan Red Cross.
VIEW PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE RESCUE OPERATION IN KENYA
