Nairobi (Kenya): As many as seven children died, and several others were severely injured a school building collapsed in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, a government spokesman said on Monday (September 23) blaming the shoddy construction.

"So far we can confirm that we have seven fatalities and 57 others in the hospital," government spokesman Cyrus Oguna said at the scene.

Also read: Afghanistan airstrike: 14 killed, eight injured in Helmand

Hundreds of angry residents of Dagoretti, a poor suburb where many live in makeshift homes, swarmed around the site where rescuers picked through the rubble.

St John Ambulance, whose teams were deployed for search and rescue operation took to Twitter and said, "Seven pupils dead, several injured after a classroom collapsed at (the Precious) Talent Academy in Dagoretti."

Margaret Muthoni, a parent of a four-year-old boy who was injured in the accident, said, "I had just dropped my son to school and heard screams on my way back. That is when I found people assisting them out to the hospital."

"I am just lucky my son survived with injuries. It is a very unfortunate incident because some children have died," Muthoni added.

Also read: Thomas Cook UK collapses, leaving European travellers stranded; India operations unaffected

Kenya's schools have suffered several tragedies in the recent years, such as a mysterious series of arson attacks targeting boarding schools that often go unsolved.

In 2017, nine teenage girls were killed in such an attack.