Building collapses in Rwanda

[iolsa]

Kigali - Three people died, 21 were injured and four were feared trapped after a four-storey building under construction collapsed on Tuesday in north-eastern Rwanda, authorities said.

Three dozen people were in the building when it collapsed at around 3pm (13h00 GMT), police said.

Of the 21 who were admitted to hospital, eight have so far been discharged, said Rwanda police chief Theos Badege in a text message, adding that four remained trapped and that the rescue operation was continuing.

The government spokesman's office said earlier that local authorities had said there were about 50 people at the site at the time of the accident in the town 100km north-east of Kigali, the capital of the impoverished African country.

Those affected are believed to include both construction workers on the building as well as passersby.

Police were working with the army to secure the site and were "currently undertaking an intensive rescue operation", a police statement said.

"We are unable to confirm details as to the cause of the building's collapse, but this will be subject to an urgent investigation, undertaken with local and national authorities, that will begin as soon as the rescue operation concludes," it said. - AFP



IOLSA