A father and his young son died in the early hours of Monday after a perimeter wall belonging to a logistics firm collapsed onto their home in Kambodia, within Mombasa’s Jomvu area.
Police said the wall, belonging to CEVAS Logistics, gave way at around 1.30am and crashed onto an adjacent house occupied by a family of three. The collapse is reported to have followed a spell of heavy rain in the area.
Officers from Mikindani Police Station, working alongside the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Jomvu and members of the public, moved quickly to pull the family from the rubble. All three were rushed to Mikindani Medical Hospital, where a 42-year-old man and his 11-year-old son were pronounced dead on arrival. The man’s 21-year-old son survived and is said to be in fair condition, receiving treatment at the facility.
The bodies of the deceased have since been moved to Coast General Hospital mortuary, where they await post-mortem examination.
Investigators say the scene has been secured and processed as they work to establish exactly what triggered the collapse, with early indications pointing to the effect of prolonged rainfall on the structure. DCI officers based in Jomvu are leading the inquiry, and police say a further update is expected once initial findings are in.
The tragedy has reignited concern over the safety of commercial and industrial perimeter walls built close to residential homes in Jomvu, a constituency where warehousing, logistics yards and family houses often sit side by side. Residents in the area have previously raised similar concerns after past incidents involving collapsing walls in the vicinity, and the latest deaths are likely to renew pressure on authorities to inspect structures considered at risk, particularly during the current rainy season.
For now, neighbours and relatives are said to be in shock, as investigators continue piecing together the circumstances that turned an ordinary night into tragedy for the Kidero family.