Seven pupils have lost their lives after their classrooms collapsed with them in it at Precious Talent School on Ngong Road in Nairobi County.
The 7 am incident saw a two storey building of the school caved in leaving several pupils injured.
The Kenya Red Cross has reported that dozens of the pupils have been trapped in the rubbles. Rescue operations are underway with residents, parents and good samaritans combing through the debris using rudimentary tools.
The classes that collapsed were housing the junior primary pupils but the most affected are those in Standard Six, Seven and Eight on the ground floor, who were trapped in the rubble.
A pupils being attended on in an ambulance
The collapsed building was constructed using iron sheets, sub-standard irons and cemented floor.
People combing through the debris
School Management
Speaking to journalists in the scene, Moses Ndirangu, the manager at Precious Talent School has blamed the Nairobi City County for the collapse of the school building.
“The City-County recently started digging a sewer line right behind the school building, thus rendering it weak and vulnerable to collapsing,” said Ndirangu.
He attributed the huge population of the school, 800 pupils, to the good performance in the National Examination. The area also lacks a public school.
The collapsed classrooms at Precious Talent [Photo/Twitter]
Kenyatta National Hospital received 64 casualties with two pupils, a boy and a girl in critical conditions.
“Most of the injured students are stable and we will treat and discharge them except for the two students. We have done x-rays, CT Scans and other examinations to the pupils,” said Dr Evason Kamuri the acting CEO KNH.
It’s with great sadness that we wake up with such a tragedy. I personally send my scencere condolence to the affected families during this difficult moment and also urge both the county and national government to do the investigation and bring to book the personalities responsible for this weak building.
Condolences to the affected families