- Accidents at construction sites have been on the rise amid calls for safety measures to address them.
- Police say up to three deaths and injuries are reported weekly at the sites.
Image: HANDOUT
A 31-year-old garbage collector died after he was hit by a wheelbarrow that fell off the 14th floor of a house under construction in South C, Nairobi.
The area is experiencing a boom in the construction of highrise buildings amid claims of poor inspection.
On Wednesday, a lorry that collects garbage in the area arrived at the scene and parked next to the building.
The garbage collector working with a popular firm in the business had visited the area to pick up garbage when the tragedy struck, police said.
It was as Brian Ambasi, the deceased was busy collecting the garbage along Ole Shapara Road that a wheelbarrow fell from the 14th floor and hit him on the head.
Witnesses and police said he died instantly
Police were called to the scene and collected the body to the mortuary pending autopsy. An investigation is ongoing, police said.
Accidents at construction sites have been on the rise amid calls for safety measures to address them.
Police say up to three deaths and injuries are reported weekly at the sites.
Elsewhere in Nairobi security officers said they were looking for more suspects over an incident in which another garbage collector was stabbed and killed in an attack by a rival group in Nairobi’s Dandora area.
One suspect is in custody as police are looking for more.
Dandora hosts the city’s dumping site and most collectors operate there.
Control of dumping sites within the huge place is lucrative and at times turns violent and deadly among the operators.
On Monday, March 4, police said one Alex Mwendwa was stabbed and rushed to Mama Lucy hospital with multiple injuries where he succumbed.
Police said the deceased was at his friend’s house within Baraka Mowlem when they were attacked by a group of garbage collectors over the territory wars.
The victims raised alarm and one suspect was chased and caught by a mob who beat him up before the police saved him.
He was taken to hospital pending interrogation and probe into the murder. Police said they hope to arrest more suspects in the murder probe.
A major operation is planned at the dump site as part of the probe into the murder.