El Nino: 9-month-old baby dies after school wall collapses in Mlango Kubwa

A nine-month-old girl has died while a pregnant woman and another girl were rushed to Mama Lucy Hospital in critical condition after a school wall collapsed in Mlango Kubwa, Nairobi.

The wall of Kiboro Primary School fell on residential houses due to heavy El Nino rains, said Bramwel Simiyu, Nairobi County's Chief Officer for Disaster Management and Coordination, who is also the chairperson of the El Nino Task Force.

The incident, which has left about 100 families homeless, has forced the county government to ask residents in the area to find alternative accommodation with friends and relatives.

"The two affected houses are where the victims were living; our officers had asked them to evacuate last night but many did not, so we asked them to do so today," the Nairobi El Nino Task Force chairman, who led the rescue operation, told the Nation on Friday as he commiserated with the bereaved families and victims.

"We received a distress call from residents of Mlango Kubwa at about 11:30 this morning that a wall at Kiboro Primary School had collapsed on some houses on the lower side, affecting two houses," he said.

"We immediately dispatched our rescue team together with the Kenya Red Cross and as we speak, the operation is complete but unfortunately, we have lost a nine-month-old baby girl while another baby girl and a pregnant woman were rushed to Mama Lucy Hospital in critical condition," Mr Bramwel told the Nation.

"The ongoing El Nino rains had weakened the wall; some residents had moved away when we asked them to, but unfortunately they have returned. We urge Kenyans in Nairobi who live on vulnerable riparian land to heed the calls of our officials," he said.

Disaster response

Lynn Njeri, the community lead for the Red Cross Kenya disaster response team in Mathare, noted that they were in Mlango Kubwa on Thursday to assess the area and then highlighted the danger.

"We tried to sensitise the community and evacuated some, but some refused to move because they had no other place to go. In the morning, we came back for another assessment and again asked them to leave the area but unfortunately, some chose to stay and just as we were about to leave, the wall came down," she told the Nation.

"We managed to save three people, but unfortunately one was pronounced dead. We are working to evacuate the others who are left here and try to find a safe place for them."

Mr Simiyu says they are also providing psychosocial support and counselling not only to those affected by the grief but also to the county staff on the front lines.

In a recent interview with the Nation, the El Nino taskforce chairperson said they have identified alternative shelters for those living on riparian land and are vulnerable to flooding, namely churches and social halls such as Joseph Kang'ethe Hall in Kibra, where they will be accommodated.

"We will provide food, tents, blankets and dignity mats to all those affected," he said.

When Nation asked him where they planned to take the victims, he explained that unfortunately there were no social halls in the area.

"We have decided to demolish a part of the wall that could collapse if it rains tonight because it faces residential houses. Meanwhile, we have spoken to the school management and they have agreed to allow the affected people to stay there for tonight only while we find alternative shelter for them."

As for Kenyans living on flood plains in other parts of Nairobi who are at risk, he says they are carrying out assessments and will soon be moving them with the Red Cross and other partners.

"We have marked the water levels on the banks along the riparian lands in Nairobi and we currently have a team on the ground doing the assessment. We are also just waiting to move to the alert stage as directed by the Kenya Meteorological Department," Mr Simiyu told the Nation in a telephone interview.

Nairobi County is expected to spend at least Sh1 billion to mitigate the effects of the El Niño rains.

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