NAIROBI: Up to 13 people have been confirmed dead in Kenya on Wednesday after a five-storey building under construction collapsed, trapping workers under piles of rubble on Monday in Kiambu town, 20 km northeast of the capital Nairobi. Kenya Red Cross and the National Youth Service personnel have been trying to clear the rubble with limited resources while onlookers crowd around the site. "By 12:30, we had retrieved 13 bodies...that one I'm repeating so that you don't ask me another time, there are some people who have been reported missing; that is 14 people," said Paul Muchai, Assistant Director National Youth Service. The planned five-storey shopping complex caved in when construction workers were still inside. There has been no official confirmation on how many were inside when the building collapsed and the number of people trapped is also not clear. Chances of finding anymore survivors have dwindled since the last time rescuers communicated with the people trapped inside the building. "By morning yesterday, there was some communications, but after about 2 hours there was no more communication, so we suspect maybe the batteries of the phones went down or maybe they were unable to communicate or otherwise," Muchai added. In 2006, a building collapsed in downtown Nairobi killing at least 14 people and injuring up to 100 others. Investigators said the building was coming up too first without proper support. Kenya's government has often promised to crackdown on building code violations, which are widespread in a country where bribery of officials and shoddy construction are rampant.
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