Kenya building collapse death toll up to eight

NAIROBI – Israeli and US troops yesterday joined frantic efforts to dig survivors from the ruins of a building that collapsed in the Kenyan capital, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 100.

As rescuers said an unknown number of people trapped in the rubble could still be heard calling for help nearly 21 hours after the unfinished five-storey building caved in on Monday, the teams of 80 Israeli military doctors and 17 US Marine Corps engineers and paramedics made their way to the site. A British team was also expected, according to Kenyan authorities who revised their initial death toll of six – which is disputed by emergency workers – to eight with more than 100 wounded.While Red Cross and hospital officials insisted that the figures were higher, national police spokesman Jaspher Ombati said the confirmed death toll stood at eight and that the latest survivors discovered had been pulled from the debris just before dawn yesterday.”There is no change to the (death toll) but after consolidating the figures, we have established that 104 people were injured as a result of the collapse,” he told AFP.”Fifty have been treated and discharged and 54 are still admitted in Nairobi hospitals.”A spokesman for Kenyatta National Hospital, where many of the injured were taken and which has appealed for emergency blood donations, said four people had died at the hospital and that 40 injured, including a family of three and a pregnant woman, were currently admitted.Kenyan Red Cross workers, who on Monday said seven people had died at the building site, maintained that at least 20 had been killed.”We can tentatively say that about 20 people have so far died,” one Red Cross worker told AFP, as the US and Israeli troops surveyed the scene of devastation in Nairobi’s central business district.”They are bringing in their expertise at this delicate time when we can hear people calling for help.”Some people still trapped under the debris are still calling for help,” said Kenyan Brigadier General Emilio Tanui, who headed overnight rescue operations.More than 200 people, mainly construction workers, were believed to be in or in the immediate vicinity when the building collapsed.Rescue officials had suffered overnight from a lack of heavy equipment and poor lighting and hoped the foreign teams would be able to assist in clawing through the debris.Kenyan authorities have said the disaster appeared to have been caused by sub-standard construction standards and President Mwai Kibaki decided to cut short a visit to an African Union summit in Sudan “to coordinate rescue efforts and console the families of those affected,” his office said.- Nampa-AFPA British team was also expected, according to Kenyan authorities who revised their initial death toll of six – which is disputed by emergency workers – to eight with more than 100 wounded.While Red Cross and hospital officials insisted that the figures were higher, national police spokesman Jaspher Ombati said the confirmed death toll stood at eight and that the latest survivors discovered had been pulled from the debris just before dawn yesterday.”There is no change to the (death toll) but after consolidating the figures, we have established that 104 people were injured as a result of the collapse,” he told AFP.”Fifty have been treated and discharged and 54 are still admitted in Nairobi hospitals.”A spokesman for Kenyatta National Hospital, where many of the injured were taken and which has appealed for emergency blood donations, said four people had died at the hospital and that 40 injured, including a family of three and a pregnant woman, were currently admitted.Kenyan Red Cross workers, who on Monday said seven people had died at the building site, maintained that at least 20 had been killed.”We can tentatively say that about 20 people have so far died,” one Red Cross worker told AFP, as the US and Israeli troops surveyed the scene of devastation in Nairobi’s central business district.”They are bringing in their expertise at this delicate time when we can hear people calling for help.”Some people still trapped under the debris are still calling for help,” said Kenyan Brigadier General Emilio Tanui, who headed overnight rescue operations.More than 200 people, mainly construction workers, were believed to be in or in the immediate vicinity when the building collapsed.Rescue officials had suffered overnight from a lack of heavy equipment and poor lighting and hoped the foreign teams would be able to assist in clawing through the debris.Kenyan authorities have said the disaster appeared to have been caused by sub-standard construction standards and President Mwai Kibaki decided to cut short a visit to an African Union summit in Sudan “to coordinate rescue efforts and console the families of those affected,” his office said.- Nampa-AFP