Nairobi building collapse kills at least 11

Last updated at 09:23 24 January 2006


A building under construction has collapsed in downtown Nairobi, killing at least 11 and injuring more than 60 others, it has been reported.

Workers had struggled throughout the night to reach survivors using sledge hammers, metal-cutters and crowbars while shouting encouragement through drainage pipes and holes in the rubble.

Police spokesman Superintendent Jaspher Ombati said rescuers did not know how many more people were trapped, but they could hear tapping or muted voices from four places in the rubble and were concentrating their efforts in those areas.

People on the street joined rescue workers pulling chunks of concrete and debris off trapped victims, a Reuters reporter said.

Peter Ngugi, head of the emergency services control room for St. Johns Ambulance, said that construction workers were among the trapped.

"The police plus my crew are trying to remove the rubble. They have heard screams inside," Ngugi told Reuters.

Ambulances sped from the scene with the injured while heavy construction equipment was brought in to clear the wreckage surrounded by a crowd of hundreds of onlookers.

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