- Preliminary reports indicate that supporting metal beams on the less stable side of the building were cut, triggering the collapse. The exact cause of the incident had not been established at the time of publication
Four people were injured, one critically, after a building that formerly housed Club Avenida collapsed during a nighttime demolition exercise along Moi Avenue in Nairobi’s Central Business District.
The incident occurred near MKU Union Towers, opposite Mageso Chambers, where the Magereza DT Sacco headquarters are located, as workers reportedly demolished the structure to pave the way for a new development.
Preliminary reports indicate that supporting metal beams on the less stable side of the building were cut, triggering the collapse. The exact cause of the incident had not been established at the time of publication.
Police officers and emergency responders rushed to the scene and launched rescue operations amid reports that people had been trapped beneath the rubble.
Witnesses said approximately 25 people were inside the building when it collapsed. By around 1:00 am, all 25 had reportedly been accounted for, although responders were still searching for a man believed to be trapped beneath the debris.
An official from the National Disaster Management Unit said the four injured victims had been taken to hospital, with three in stable condition and one in critical condition.
The incident renewed safety concerns and sparked outrage online, with members of the public calling on Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and the County Government to ensure accountability.
However, neither had issued a statement on the incident by the time of publication.
After visiting the site, Geoffrey Mosiria, County Chief Officer for Citizen Engagement and Customer Service, urged investigators to establish whether qualified professionals had supervised the exercise.
"I call upon our county engineers to conduct a thorough investigation into this specific demolition to establish the cause of the collapse, determine whether qualified experts were involved to guide the demolition, and verify whether all the necessary demolition approvals had been obtained,” he wrote in a statement.
The county official also appealed to developers to comply with existing regulations and consult county engineers during construction and demolition work to protect workers and members of the public.