A 29-year-old female casual worker, Agripina Khayesi, has tragically died after being struck by a falling piece of timber at a construction site in Parklands, Nairobi. The incident, which occurred on Wednesday evening, underscores ongoing safety concerns within the construction sector, where such accidents have become alarmingly frequent.
Khayesi was among a group of workers at the site when the timber fell from the upper floors of the structure. It struck her on the head while she was on the ground floor, leading to severe injuries. She was initially rushed to Jalaram Medical Center before being transferred to Abyan Hospital in Pangani. Despite efforts to save her, she succumbed to the head injuries shortly after arrival. The body was later transferred to the mortuary for post-mortem examination.
Police have visited the scene and the hospital and have launched an investigation into the incident. This is just the latest in a series of fatal accidents that have plagued the construction industry in Kenya. Each year, dozens of construction workers lose their lives or sustain serious injuries in accidents at various construction sites across the country. Investigators often cite the lack of protective gear and failure to adhere to safety procedures as the primary causes of these tragedies.
Last month, a similar incident occurred at a construction site in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area, where three workers died after falling from an incomplete building. The death toll later increased to four after another worker died from the same site.
Such fatalities highlight the dangerous working conditions faced by many in the construction industry, where workers are often exposed to life-threatening hazards without sufficient safety measures in place. Calls for improved worker safety, the provision of protective equipment, and stricter enforcement of construction regulations continue to grow.
In other unrelated incidents, three separate suicide cases were reported across various counties in Kenya, including Bomet, Narok, and Migori, raising further concerns about mental health in the country. Authorities are investigating all cases.
