The body of a woman has been recovered from the rubble of the collapsed building in Eastleigh, Nairobi, and taken to the City Mortuary for DNA testing to establish her identity
The body was retrieved at around 6:30 am on Friday, eight days after the building collapsed. It was severely dismembered after being crushed by heavy concrete and debris, making it difficult for rescuers to identify the victim.
Nairobi North County Commissioner Simon Osumba, who is leading the rescue operation, said DNA tests would be conducted to establish the woman’s identity before her body is released to her family.
Osumba said the family members who had been waiting at the scene were informed about the recovery and the transfer of the body to the mortuary.
“It is with sorrow that we continue with this operation. We have spoken to the family members who were here and informed them that the body has been taken to the City Mortuary. We will involve the family in the identification process,” he said.
He added that the rescue operation had received support from the national government, the Kenya Red Cross, the Eastleigh business community and other stakeholders.
Speaking during an update on Friday, National Disaster Management Unit Director and incident commander Duncan Ochieng said the woman’s body was located and recovered following a careful assessment by the rescue teams.
Ochieng said the operation was about 85 per cent complete but warned that clearing the remaining debris would require patience and careful planning.
He noted that the rescue teams were working under difficult conditions due to the limited space, heavy concrete debris and the nature of the collapse.
He said rescuers would not be pressured into rushing the operation at the expense of their safety.
“We will not kill ourselves in the process. The operation is ongoing, and we will reach ground zero when we are satisfied that there are no more bodies in the collapsed building. We do not want to endanger ourselves by rushing the process,” he said.
Ochieng also urged members of the public to keep away from the restricted area, warning that the site remained a crime scene and that interference could put lives at risk.
He further revealed that another family, including a foreign national, had reported a missing relative on Friday morning, increasing the number of reported missing persons from 16 to 17.
He said the rescue operation would continue until all those believed to be trapped beneath the rubble had been accounted for.
Ochieng explained that the teams were still conducting search and rescue operations, with the aim of saving anyone who might still be alive and recovering those who had died.
“The process is still search and rescue. In the process of searching, we rescue. If we cannot rescue, we recover. We are looking at the safety of those who may still be alive as well as those who may have died,” he said.
The recovery comes as families continue to wait anxiously for news of their missing relatives, with hopes of finding survivors still hanging on as the operation enters its eighth day.
