Baby rescued from rubble in Kenya, as deaths hit 23
Print Edition
KENYAN rescuers yesterday pulled a 7-month-old baby alive from the rubble of a six-story building, four days after the block collapsed during heavy rains killing at least 23 people.
Two brothers who own the building were remanded in police custody yesterday but not charged as rescue efforts continue with close to 100 still missing.
The baby girl’s father described the recovery of his daughter, Delarine Saisi, as a “miracle.”
“I thank God for all that he has done to get my daughter alive after all those days,” said Ralsan Wasike, adding that he did not know the whereabouts of the girl’s mother.
“I pray she is alive,” he said.
The Kenya Red Cross said the baby girl was found at 4am “in a bucket wrapped in a blanket.” She was dehydrated but without visible physical injuries.
The Red Cross had initially said the baby was a year and a half old, but the father later said she was less than half that age.
Baby Delarine was rescued 80 hours after the building collapsed on Friday night during torrential rains that hit the Kenyan capital last week.
The building was home to about 150 families crammed into single rooms.
Police said the death toll from the tragedy rose to 23 yesterday after two more bodies were found.
Located in the poor, tightly packed Huruma neighbourhood, the building had been slated for demolition after being declared structurally unsound.
But an evacuation order for the structure, which was built near a river just two years ago, was ignored.
Five people were remanded in custody for 21 days yesterday to allow prosecutors to gather evidence and file charges, including the two brothers who own the building and three construction officials.
Several buildings have collapsed in recent years in Nairobi and other Kenyan cities, where a property boom has seen buildings shoot up at speed, often with scant regard for building regulations.
The deaths in Huruma bring to at least 30 the number of people who have died in Nairobi since the weekend in accidents linked to floods caused by torrential rains.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
