The body of a man who was buried under an 11-storey building that was demolished in Mombasa’s Corner ya Kilifi area has been retrieved.
Yusuf Ali Abdi’s body was retrieved from under the rubble of the 11-storey demolished building on Sunday morning, four days after the controlled demolition.
The deceased was buried under the building on 2nd April when it first tilted causing the first floor of the 80 percent complete building to collapse.
Confirming the retrieval, Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Sheriff Nassir said the extraction of the body delayed due to several challenges including limited space for machinery to operate.
“We were able to retrieve the body today morning, as we are speaking right now, the pathologists are doing what needs to be done before burial,” said Governor Nassir.
“What is important is the post mortem has been done, the necessary medical assessments have been done, and the family has been able to identify,” he added.
He also called on the public to allow the family an opportunity to grieve and not post images of the dead body online.
“Please just remember that this is someone’s parent and family, let us try to avoid sharing videos of dead people. Let us give the deceased and his family the respect they deserve,” said the Governor.
Coast Regional Police Commander Ali Nuno commended actions taken by both county and national government during the whole operation.
“Immediately when the house hang, we decided to evacuate the whole neighborhood, we evacuated almost everybody. We had to approach the demolition in a way that there was minimal damage and loss of life,” said Nuno.
According to the family, Yusuf Ali Abdi went to the building for house viewing when it, unfortunately, collapsed. The deceased is said to have not carried a phone with him hence his whereabouts could not be traced in time.
“He was a missing person. After around three days is when we started getting reports of someone who had disappeared. We got the CCTV footage and later found his whereabouts after going through the footage,” said CC Noor.
Meanwhile, the family is making plans to bury the deceased.
“We would like to thank the Governor who has given us machinery and personnel who’ve been working day and night to help us get our brother. We would also like to thank the security team led by the Regional Commander, County Commissioer and area Chiefs. We also appreciate the prayers from everyone in Mombasa County, and anyone who helped and supported us,” said Liban Hersi Hassan, the family’s spokesperson.
