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Six-storey building collapses as floods hit Kenyan capital, 3 dead

By REUTERS
April 30, 2016

NAIROBI: A six-storey building collapsed in Kenya´s capital late on Friday, killing at least three people, KTN television reported, and trapping many others after days of heavy rains and floods. Live footage showed rescuers bringing out two survivors through packed crowds of emergency crews and onlookers in the Huruma residential area in northeast Nairobi.

Three children and one adult were taken to the city´s Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya Red Cross said on its Twitter feed. People from about 150 households were taking shelter in a nearby village, the aid group said, amid what it called "chaotic scenes".

The Daily Nation newspaper reported that scores more were feared trapped. Authorities did not immediately release details on casualties. Privately owned KTN, running live footage from the scene, said 58 people had been rescued from the rubble, including a baby, but "most residents" of the building were trapped inside.

It was not clear how many were there when it collapsed. The pictures showed a large crowd surrounding the collapsed building as police and rescue workers tried to remove debris, passing chunks of masonry to one another by hand.