By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and AP
Saturday October 24, 2026
Security forces and civil defence at the multistorey building collapse in Nairobi on Friday [Brian Inganga/AP]
Several people are missing and others may be trapped after a multistorey building under construction collapsed in Kenya’s capital, leaving a huge mound of concrete as rescuers dig through the rubble.
The building came down on Friday at about 1pm local time (10:00GMT) on a busy commercial street in Eastleigh, a neighbourhood in Nairobi crowded with thousands of traders and residents.
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Nairobi police chief Issa Mohamud said more than 10 upper floors were under construction, and Kenya’s Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said there were 67 workers at the site – one of whom was injured, while the other 66 escaped unharmed.
The basement and ground floor had been rented to an electronics shop, a butchery and a grocery, according to the Associated Press news agency. Those shops were occupied by about 11 people, who are yet to be accounted for, Murkomen told reporters.
“The good news is that from the rescue team, which includes national government, county government and Red Cross, it is reported that they have made contact with some of the survivors who are still trapped inside,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi, reporting from Nairobi, said the developers and authorities are being asked “to answer now” as people were not supposed to be inside a building under construction.
She said rescue efforts were expected to continue through Friday night and Saturday.
Rescuers used poles stripped from trees and excavators to move concrete bound with steel, as heavy equipment was slow to arrive.
The Kenya Red Cross said two injured people had been rescued and taken to Kenyatta National Hospital, local media outlet The Eastleigh Voice reported.
Mohamud warned of a potential second collapse because the building was leaning on its neighbour.
Local media reported looting immediately after the collapse and police firing tear gas to disperse crowds.
‘Our concern is to save lives’
Joseph Kaula, a plasterer working on the fifth floor of the collapsed building, told AP that he was the last person to walk out.
“The whole area was filled with dust,” he said.
Relatives of those trapped said some had phoned for help immediately after the collapse, but their phones later became unreachable. A tent was set up to report missing relatives.
“Our concern is to save lives,” Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja told reporters.
He said the building had been approved for construction but had no certificate of occupation, so opening shops on the ground floor was illegal.
“This has potentially cost lives,” he told reporters on site.
He said that it was possible “one or two” people had died and that more would be known as time went on.
Mohamud said police had launched a manhunt for the building’s owner.
The National Construction Authority said the project was registered on July 30, 2025, The Eastleigh Voice reported. It was not immediately known whether the building had been inspected before its collapse.
Kenya’s National Building Inspectorate found that 87 percent of buildings audited nationwide last year failed to meet standards or lacked approvals, according to the AFP news agency.
Sakaja said county governments needed stronger enforcement powers, calling lenient penalties a “slap on the wrist”. Police said they would carry out investigations and anyone found negligent would face the law.