At least seven children have died and 57 got injured after a classroom collapsed at a primary school in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Monday morning, reported Reuters.
“There have been 57 students that have been taken to hospital for treatment, and we can also confirm that there have been seven fatalities,” said Cyrus Oguna, Kenya’s government spokesman.
Oguna said the authorities are now making sure the injured get medical treatment.
The incident took place a few minutes after 7 am local time on Monday (04:00 GMT) at the two-storey Precious Talent Top School, which has some 800 pupils aged below 14. As per reports, dozens are still trapped in the remains of the collapsed building.
Red Cross Kenya said rescue efforts to find all the trapped students were ongoing. The Red Cross has transferred some children to the Kenyatta National Hospital.
“There were students in the upper classes of the building when it collapsed,” said Peter Abwao, public relations, and communications manager at Kenya Red Cross. “We are still searching to make sure all students have been rescued.”
Kenyatta National Hospital later said on Twitter 64 students had been sent to the hospital.
While the cause of the incident was not immediately known, the authorities had previously warned 30-40,000 buildings erected without proper approval in Nairobi are at risk of collapse. Three years ago a six-storey residential block collapsed in Nairobi, killing 51 people following heavy rains.
Moses Ndirangu, the school’s director, has blamed the collapse on the construction of a nearby sewer pipe which he says may have weakened the foundations of the building.
