Owner of collapsed Kinoo building built 6 floors on 4-floor plan

It has now emerged that the owner of the collapsed multi-storey building in Mithiga area of Kinoo, Kiambu County, contravened approved architectural  plan and built two more floors. 

In a statement on Sunday, Land, Housing, Physical Planning and Urban Development County Executive Eunice Macharia said the county government of Kiambu issued the approvals five years ago.

"The County Government of Kiambu had in 2018 and 2019 issued architectural and structural approvals for the construction of the building up to 4 floors, but at the time of this latest incident, the building had 6 floors," Macharia said.

She said the County Planning Department had instructed the owner to stop the construction of the building.

According to residents, the building, which was still under construction, collapsed at around  1 am on Saturday. No person was injured. 

An adjacent building, Crestwood Apartments, prevented it from totally collapsing and was left leaning dangerously on the already occupied apartment block.

Traumatised tenants in the occupied building were asked to vacate and they spent the rest of the night in the cold. The building had six families at the time of the incident. 

Macharia said the owner of the collapsed building is still at large as a multi-agency team works on bringing down the leaning structure at his cost.

"The Department of Planning is urging contractors and the public at large to adhere to the laid down procedures regarding construction approvals and follow the law to the letter to avert potential danger to human life and loss of property," Macharia advised. 

This was the fourth building to collapse within Kiambu County in a span of six months.