Nairobi: Businessman Reveals What He Feared Most While Wife Was Trapped Under Rubble for 30 Hours

A Nairobi trader, Sultan, has recounted the harrowing moments he went through while his wife, Zeynab Muhammad, stayed buried under rubble for over 30 hours after a building collapsed in Eastleigh.

Sultan revealed that he dreaded his wife had died before rescuers could get to her. He spent hours nervously waiting and praying, hoping she would be found alive.Zeynab was in their shop in the Isli area of Eastleigh on Friday, October 23, when an 18-storey building came tumbling down. She was trapped under the ruins, leaving her family fearful for her survival.

Her husband had left her at their ground-floor shop to attend Friday afternoon prayers at a nearby mosque. He never imagined the building would fall soon after he left.

After hearing about the disaster, Sultan rushed back to the scene, hoping to find his wife unharmed.

Instead, he arrived to find the building flattened into a pile of concrete and building materials.

Although he knew the location of their shop, he could not immediately tell whether Zeynab had made it out alive.

As rescue crews combed through the wreckage for trapped people, he anxiously awaited word on his wife’s whereabouts.As hours went by with no confirmation of her safety, Sultan feared he would never see her again. Unable to do much while rescue efforts went on, he went back to the mosque to pray for her survival.

Meanwhile, Zeynab was fighting to stay alive under the debris. During the collapse, she got wedged in a tight gap between two refrigerators inside their shop. The small space protected her as she endured over 30 hours in the dark.

On Saturday evening, rescuers at last found Zeynab and pulled her out alive. Her survival brought immense relief to Sultan, who had spent hours fearing he had lost his wife.

The trader was overwhelmed with emotion when he was reunited with her after the terrifying ordeal.

Zeynab’s rescue also renewed hope among other families at the scene who were awaiting news of their missing relatives as emergency teams kept searching for survivors.

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