WESTERN PEOVINCE

RUSIZI — Two people died instantly after a house collapsed on them in Rushakamba village in Kamembe, Rusizi District.

The incident took place at around 9:45 in the morning. The dead were identified as Justine Niboneye, 20 and Claude Nzasabimpfura, 27.

Nzasabimpfura was a cyclist who had gone to pick a sack of cassava flour from the building at the time, while Niboneye was a shop attendant operating under the collapsed house, according to eye witnesses.

The house which collapsed belongs to the district. Sources said that the building collapsed due to recent heavy rains and the earthquake that weakened it in February this year.
Others caught up in the rubble included a 6-year old girl and three women. They were immediately rushed to Gihundwe Hospital in critical condition.

Grieved residents blamed the district authorities for not having closed the building after it had been weakened by the quake.  

"I believe the building collapsed due to recent heavy rains and the recent earthquake but there was negligence on the part of the district. This incident could have been avoided had they closed the house after it was seriously damaged by the earthquake in February,” Daniel Habamenshi, a resident said.

Other residents who spoke to The New Times also expressed fear that other buildings in weak states could cause similar accidents if the district didn’t close them. They cited a building located behind Kamembe market where Rusizi district public library operates from. 

In a similar incident, a Pentecostal church located in Nyakabuye sector on Tuesday, September 2, also collapsed, injuring over 30 pupils. Six of them are still admitted at Mibilizi Hospital.    

In April a team of district officials and security authorities closed over 50 commercial and residential buildings that were seriously damaged by the earthquake.

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