Baby girl rescued 4 days after Kenya building collapse

NAIROBI, Kenya (UPDATED) – Kenyan rescuers pulled a 7-month-old baby alive from the rubble of a 6-storey building on Tuesday, May 3, 4 days after the block collapsed during heavy rains, killing 23 people.

Two brothers who own the building were remanded in police custody on Tuesday but not charged as rescue efforts continue with close to 100 still missing.

The baby girl’s father described the recovery of his daughter, Delarine Saisi, as a “miracle.”

“I thank God for all that he has done to get my daughter alive after all those days in the rubble,” said Ralsan Wasike, adding that he did not know the whereabouts of the girl’s mother.

“I pray she is alive,” he said.

The Kenya Red Cross said the baby girl was found at 4 am (0100 GMT) “in a bucket wrapped in a blanket.” She was dehydrated but without visible physical injuries.

The Red Cross had initially said the baby was a year and a half old, but the father later said she was less than half that age.

Baby Delarine was rescued 80 hours after the building collapsed on Friday night, April 29. during torrential rains that hit the Kenyan capital last week.

The building was home to around 150 families crammed into single rooms.

Police said the death toll from the tragedy rose to 23 on Tuesday after two more bodies were found.

Located in the poor, tightly-packed Huruma neighborhood, the building had been slated for demolition after being declared structurally unsound.

But an evacuation order for the structure, which was built near a river just two years ago, was ignored.

Five people were remanded in custody for 21 days on Tuesday to allow prosecutors to gather evidence and file charges, including the 2 brothers who own the building and 3 construction officials.

Several buildings have collapsed in recent years in Nairobi and other Kenyan cities, where a property boom has seen buildings shoot up at speed, often with scant regard for building regulations.

The deaths in Huruma bring to at least 30 the number of people who have died in Nairobi since the weekend in accidents linked to floods caused by torrential rains. – Rappler.com