IN PICTURES: Huruma residents vacate buildings near collapse site

Huruma residents living near the ill-fated building that collapsed on Friday have begun moving to other houses to ensure their safety.

This comes just a day after Ministry of World Public Secretary P. M Maringa said that 70 buildings in Huruma that were considered unsafe have been condemned.

The PS also said that an eviction order had been issued for the building whose collapse has left 32 people dead, 80 people missing and scores others injured.

In a statement published on local dailies on Thursday, the PS said that the National Buildings Inspectorate carried out an audit of buildings in Huruma in February and March 2016 and those found to be unsafe were isolated and their occupants given eviction notices.

“It was agreed that the county government who were part of the audit exercise in Nairobi County would issue an evacuation order. I believe this was one of the buildings for which an evacuation order was issued out for,” read the statement.

The PS intimated that the audit exercise in Nairobi covered 15 estates including Huruma, Zimmerman, Dagoretti, Githurai 44, Baba Dogo, Umoja, Thome, Garden Estate, South B, Ngumba, Kahawa West, Mirema, Roysambu, Marurui and is currently being conducted at Nairobi West.

He promised that a countrywide audit would kick off on May 10 this year to spot unsafe buildings in all the 47 counties.

Since the beginning of the audit exercise, a total of 2601 buildings in Nairobi have been inspected, with 226 of them being found unsafe for occupation. Four of the condemned buildings collapsed on their own, while two were demolished in Kahawa West.

“We are working with Materials Branch of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and tests on the structural integrity of these buildings are ongoing,” read the statement.

As the authorities fight against time to contain a situation that seems to have gotten away from them, occupants of buildings in Huruma have taken it upon themselves to ensure their own safety and vacated the nearby buildings.

It remains to be seen whether these measures will help avoid future loss of life in similar tragedies.

Photos by Janet Okumu