Two dead after building collapses in Mogadishu

A days-old infant and two women have been confirmed dead following the collapse of a building three-storey residential in Mogadishu’s Shangani district.

Their bodies were pulled out of the rubble, while several others were rescued.

A rescuer identified as Mohamed said they had managed to pull out three people — one woman and two children — from the rubble during the rescue operation.

The woman was alive but unconscious when she was rescued at around 3.30pm, while the girl, aged about four years, was also rescued alive.

“At around 3.30pm, we rescued a four-year-old girl from the rubble. We also pulled out a woman who was unconscious but alive,” said.

He added, “Unfortunately, the two persons, a woman and an infant, were already dead by the time we managed to reach her.”

While the cause of the collapse is yet to be established,the district commissioner of Shangani, Abdiqaadir Mohamed Abdiqadir, said the walls of building were overpowered by the loose soil.

There are many such storeys in the city downtown where hundreds live in constant fear. The buildings are not the responsibility of any particular live, and have deteriorated over the last century without any maintenance.

Mogadishu has around 1,600 houses built during colonial era between 70 years and more than a century ago, most of them in the downtown area.

Nearly most of them now belong to civilians and few are under the ownership the government and have been haunting for more than two decades.