At least two people have been confirmed dead and four others injured after a building under construction collapsed in Kiambu town early Sunday.
The building, located less than 100 meters from the place where another building collapsed two months ago in October leading to the deaths of 17 people, had been condemned earlier on and occupants ordered to vacate.
According to the Kiambu OCPD, Samuel Mukindia, two people have been confirmed dead while four are admitted at the Kiambu District Hospitals while one was treated and discharged.
The victims are said to have been occupying mabati houses neighboring the collapsed building and were in their sleep when the 2.00. A.M. disaster befell them.
Combined rescue operation at the site includes the Red Cross, the GSU, and the army with about four people believed to be still buried under the debris.
Earlier on after the October tragedy, Kiambu Municipal Council, whose engineer was charged with 17 counts of manslaughter as a result, launched rapid inspection exercise on all the buildings under the municipal jurisdiction to ensure that they meet the required architectural and structural standards stipulated by the law.
Construction of the now collapsed building was then halted and it was condemned after being found with cracks on its walls.
The mayor was at that time quoted saying "we will order the owners of the faulty buildings to bring them down so that we can avert another disaster from happening."
The owner of the building was subsequently taken to court and was last Friday fined sh. 50 000 or 14 month imprisonment on top of being ordered to demolish the house at once. It is said that demonstration work at the building had began earlier yesterday.
Police are looking for the owner of the building who has not appeared at the site of the tragedy and is likely to be charged with manslaughter.
Meanwhile, another building located about a 100 meters from the scene of tragedy has been condemned unsafe and occupants ordered to vacate the building within three hours.
According to the Kiambu District Investigations Officer, Ahmed Abdi, the building which houses about 40 families is a disaster in the waiting as is said to have cracks in its ground floor.
Lorries and loaders flocked the area as families were seen busy packing and loading their belongings into the waiting lorries to move to other areas.
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Two people in Kenya died earlier today after a five-storeyed building under construction in the town of Kiambu collapsed. Four others were said to have been injured.

The incident occurred in the middle of the night, at 02:30 local time (23:30 UTC), on Sunday morning. The building was only a few metres from another building that collapsed in October of last year, killing thirty people.

The building is reported to have been condemned last year, when the authorities deemed it substandard. Preparations to demolish the building started yesterday, in accordance with a court order that required the building to be destroyed within thirty days.

One of the casualties from the accident was Maina Irungu, aged seventeen; the other hasn't been identified. People wounded by the collapse were taken to the Kiambu District Hospital. The victims were all people who lived in houses near the collapsed building. Rescue operations are still ongoing, being conducted by the Red Cross, police, and military. Officials also ordered evacuation of two buildings in the vicinity when cracks were spotted on them, according to Capital FM Kenya.

This story in itself is reflective of a major infrastructure problem in Kenya, according to the ''BBC'', China says it will give a US$7 million (£4.4m, €4.9m) grant to help fund infrastructure development projects in Kenya.