At least one person has died and several others are feared trapped after a quarry collapsed at Mutonga in Igoji, South Imenti, Meru County, on Wednesday morning.

The quarry lies near the boundary between Meru and Tharaka Nithi counties. The collapse happened while workers were extracting stone.

Meru County Special Programmes Director Lena Kiambi confirmed the accident on social media at around 9.20am. "Mutonga, Igoji quarry accident. Rescue mission enroute," she posted.

Death toll unclear

Igoji Chief Eva Nkatha later confirmed one death. Some media outlets reported that six people had died, but officials had not confirmed that figure by Wednesday afternoon, Kenyans.co.ke reported.

A worker who survived said six others were believed to be under the debris. One worker escaped unhurt. Another was pulled out by residents and rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

Residents join rescue

Before rescue teams arrived, residents rushed to the site and began clearing fallen rocks by hand. Photos from the scene show crowds around a mound of broken stone at the foot of the quarry wall.

Authorities had not established the cause of the collapse by the time of publication.

Quarry safety in focus

The accident has renewed concern about safety in Kenya's small-scale quarries, where many workers rely on stone extraction for a living but work without protective equipment or engineering assessments.

Meru has a history of such accidents. In 2018, three people died at a quarry on the same Meru–Tharaka Nithi border. County officials have repeatedly promised safety audits.

The Mutonga collapse came a day after cracks reportedly appeared at the Lomeguro gold mining site in Turkana County, causing several shafts to cave in. An unconfirmed number of miners were feared trapped there.

Hamasta Media will update this story as the rescue continues.

Photos: Kenyans.co.ke