“I Could Hear Her” Mum’s Emotional Account After Missing Daughter’s Phone Is Answered

A family searching for a 22-year-old woman missing in the Eastleigh building collapse has received an unexpected development after her mobile phone became reachable following eight days without communication.

Jude Rose Wanjiru, the young woman’s mother, said the incident had given them renewed hope as they continued waiting for news about Aurelia Wanjiku, who remains unaccounted for following the collapse of an 18-storey building along 9th Street in Eastleigh, Nairobi.

Wanjiru travelled from Kangema in Murang’a County and had spent nine days at the disaster site, hoping rescue teams would find her daughter alive.

The mother described the emotional strain of waiting, revealing that she had struggled to eat as the search continued. Her anxiety increased after reports emerged that a woman’s body had been recovered from the debris.

She said relatives visited the City Mortuary to establish whether the recovered body belonged to Aurelia, but confirmed that it was not their daughter.

However, a phone call on Saturday morning brought a new development. After several unsuccessful attempts to reach Aurelia through her two mobile lines, her sister tried calling the Airtel number again.

This time, the phone rang and someone answered.

“Her Safaricom line was not going through, and I tried her Airtel line and she even picked up, so I could hear her but it’s like she could not hear us,” Wanjiru recounted.

The family immediately relayed the information to government officials coordinating the rescue operation. The details were subsequently passed to detectives, who were reportedly working to trace the phone signal and establish its location beneath the collapsed structure.

The development came as rescue teams continued clearing debris from the site, where 16 people were still reported missing.

According to information provided by the rescue team, approximately 90 per cent of the debris had been removed, leaving the remaining section where some of the missing people were believed to be trapped.

Relatives of those still unaccounted for have continued appealing for an accelerated operation as they wait for information about their loved ones.

For Wanjiru, the brief moment when someone answered her daughter’s phone has become a reason to hold on to hope. However, the call alone has not confirmed Aurelia’s whereabouts or condition, and the family continues to await the outcome of the tracing and rescue efforts.

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