Two people have been confirmed dead after a building collapsed at Nairobi’s Gikomba Market on Thursday evening, with rescue teams working through the night to search for others believed to have been trapped beneath the debris.
The incident occurred in Block B of the busy market, a section that had reportedly suffered severe structural damage following a fire that swept through parts of Gikomba last Sunday.
Witnesses said the building gave way while a group of young men were inside dismantling sections of the weakened structure and collecting scrap metal.
Emergency responders, including firefighters and Kenya Red Cross personnel, rushed to the scene and launched a search and rescue operation under floodlights as traders and residents gathered nearby hoping for news of those trapped.
The Kenya Red Cross confirmed that first aiders had been sent out to assist in the search and rescue mission along with the Nairobi City County Fire Brigade.
“As far as we are concerned, the Kenya Red Cross has been working in collaboration with others in the search and rescue operations following the collapse of a building at Gikomba Market in Nairobi,” the Kenya Red Cross announced in a previous report.
Rescue operations continued for several hours before the agency announced that the overnight search and retrieval exercise had been completed.
“The overnight search and retrieval operation at Gikomba Market has been successfully concluded through the joint efforts of the Nairobi City County Fire Brigade, Kenya Red Cross first responders and the National Police Service,” the organisation said.
The Kenya Red Cross further emphasized that it is willing to offer psychosocial counseling to those whose lives have been affected by the incident.
There have been no names released for the two individuals who died during the accident, although there have been no detailed reports from Nairobi County authorities or the police concerning the collapse of the structure as of Friday.
This particular incident follows soon after the destruction of several stalls in the market due to fire, causing much damage to the structure of Gikomba Market.
The Gikomba Market, which is the largest open-air market in Kenya, has seen a number of disasters caused by fires and other accidents in the past, with traders demanding better infrastructure for their safety.
