No more hopes of finding survivors
As the search for survivors of the collapsed city building entered its second day, rescuers, which include teams from Kenya, Israel, the UK and the US have lost hope of pulling out anybody alive.
After burning the midnight oil, only one body was pulled out of the rubble last night.
More than 200 people were estimated to be in the building when it collapsed. So far, 107 people have been pulled out alive while at least 20 have been confirmed dead.
President Mwai Kibaki, who was forced to cut short his visit to Sudan jetted back into the country and immediately proceeded to the tragic scene. He sent his condolences to the bereaved families and said the government would buy rescue equipment like those used by Israeli experts. “We are grateful to everybody who has come to help. We wish the injured a quick recovery”, he said.
But leader of Official Opposition Uhuru Kenyatta lamented the slow pace of rescue before the Israeli team arrived. “We need to be prepared to face disasters. Political rhetoric just does not help”, said Kenyatta. Catholic archbishop Ndingi mwana a Nzeki said such a tragedy could be avoided if the law was followed at every step.
The UN staff in Nairobi responded to appeals for blood donation, with 37 of them donating blood at the Nairobi Hospital. Mr. Klaus Toepfer, Director General of the UN Office at Nairobi (UNON) and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, said: “We are an integral part of the Kenyan community and any calamity that affects a part of it, affects us all. I am pleased to see that we respond not only as an organization, which is our duty, but as individuals as well”. “We are all very happy to have been part of this noble cause" added Katja Nilsson, the UN staff member who organized the emergency blood drive.
The government has also established a counselling centre at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) for victims of the tragedy.
As a somber mood continues to engulf the country, a Central Bank of Kenya technician had warned of the tragedy a month earlier in a letter to the Daily Nation. “This building is likely to collapse in future unless some measures are taken into account”, wrote Charles Omondi in a letter dated 15 December. He further warned: “The city engineer and other related organs should intervene to avert loss of lives. He gave reasons as construction at a very high speed, with columns and beams too thin to bear the weight of a storeyed building. Construction of the building began last November.
Meanwhile, the owner of the killer building, who has since gone underground, is now known. He is Jimmy Kihonge, director of Capital Developers. The son of a former powerful KANU politician the late Nganga Kihonge, he also has powerful connections with the current regime and owns other buildings in Nairobi and Naivasha. His lawyer brother Elias Kihonge declined to give the name of contractor. Police Commissioner Brigadier Hussein Ali say he may run but he wont hide.