By Fatiha Shabir
(fatihashabz@gmail.com)
Thumbnail photo courtesy of businessdaily.africa.com
Nine people have lost their lives and one sustains serious injuries after a crane collapsed during the construction of the new student residence located near Daystar University.
The incident happened today at around 12:30pm when, according to one of the workers on site, the crane malfunctioned and ended up throwing off the workers from the building.
According to eye witnesses, the workers were in the midst of dismantling the crane when it crumbled about 70 metres down leading to the loss of seven Kenyans and two Chinese workers.
The bodies of the deceased have been taken to Chiromo Mortuary for their families to claim. Construction of the 14-storey building has been halted as investigations begin in order to determine what led to the crane malfunction.
Zhejiang Chengjian Construction Limited, who is the main contractor of the project, will be liable to provide answers on what went wrong during the construction.
This incident comes months after a similar one happened in March this year after two construction workers lost their lives while two others sustained injuries during the construction of the Qwetu residence located near the United States International University.
The cause of the accident was unknown and it led to a two month suspension of all construction activities at the site.
Details on investigation findings were not revealed upon resumption of the construction.