Survivor in Nairobi Sewer Collapse That Killed 4 People Narrates How He Narrowly Escaped Death

A survivor in the Nairobi sewer collapse that killed four people and left three critically injured on Friday morning has recounted how he narrowly escaped death.

Speaking to the press, the male survivor disclosed that the incident which occurred at around 1 am, took place while most of the workers were inside the waterway.

The victim recalled witnessing his colleagues struggling to salvage themselves from the mud with some shouting for help.

Luckily, a team of rescuers arrived at the scene and quickly evacuated him from the excavation site before rushing him to the hospital.

An excavator at a construction site in Kenya.

Photo

Construction Kenya

“I was saved, during the incident, I saw the upper part of my colleague’s body covered in mud. As for me, the mud reached my waist. There are people still covered by the mud and yet to be retrieved,” the survivor narrated.

“When I was retrieved from the mud, I was unconscious and I could not remember some of the things but I remember leaving most of the workers under the mud.”

While narrating his encounter at the sewer line, the survivor accused his employer of deploying them to the site without requisite safety gear.

“We were not given any safety gear, we were just brought to the site and told to begin the work. People were also not given enough food and it was around 1 am,” he told journalists.

“We were using minuet bulbs that were not bright enough. Some of us were using torches.”

Meanwhile, Police Spokesperson Resila Onyango who visited the site confirmed that three workers were rescued as the search continued for others.

“Four bodies were recovered from under the ground, three of which were unidentified males and one was identified. The scene was processed and the bodies were taken to the city morgue awaiting identification and autopsy” the police noted.

A picture of a crime scene tape.

Photo

Canva