Rescue teams were searching for seven people feared trapped after a 16-storey building under construction collapsed Friday in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said.
Videos circulating online showed the building suddenly crumbling, sending massive clouds of dust into the air in Eastleigh, a densely populated area with a mix of residential and commercial buildings.
The structure was reduced to a heap of rubble as emergency crews rushed to the scene. Rescuers faced difficulties accessing the site, which was wedged between other high-rise buildings.
“Eleven shops on the ground floor and in the basement were occupied at the time of the collapse. Seven people have been reported missing,” Murkomen wrote in a post on X late Friday.
He said 66 of the 67 people working at the construction site had escaped unharmed, while one person was injured.
Earlier, police said they had rescued a woman from the rubble and could hear another person calling for help.
“The contractors and the engineers are supposed to ensure that the works are followed by professionals. But most are not,” Bibiye Mahmoud, president of the Institution of Engineering Technology of Kenya, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at the scene.
“This is why we are seeing these catastrophes ... There is no accountability,” she added.
Building safety standards
A report by Kenya’s National Building Inspectorate found that 87% of buildings audited nationwide last year failed to meet standards or lacked the required approvals.
“Our concern is to save lives,” Nairobi Gov. Johnson Sakaja told reporters, adding, “This building has no occupation certificate ... this has potentially cost lives.”
An occupation certificate is formal approval from the relevant authorities confirming that a building is safe and legally fit for occupancy.
John Ogallo, vice president of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya, who was also at the scene, said there had been warning signs before the collapse.
“People here are saying distresses were observed, like cracks,” he told reporters.
If a building is constructed with the wrong materials, “it becomes a time bomb,” he added.
Nairobi is experiencing a construction boom, with high-rise buildings springing up across the city, particularly in Eastleigh, known for its busy markets and large Somali community.
The number of buildings completed annually in Nairobi rose from 20,025 in 2022 to 25,090 last year, according to the country’s statistics bureau, as East Africa’s leading business hub attracts people from rural areas and neighboring countries.
Looting reported
Local media reported looting shortly after the collapse, which occurred around lunchtime.
AFP journalists saw police use tear gas to disperse crowds gathering near the site.
A report by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis documented 86 building collapses in Nairobi between 2009 and 2019, resulting in an estimated 200 deaths.
Corruption has allowed contractors to cut corners and bypass building regulations.
Five people were killed when a six-storey building collapsed in a town on the outskirts of Nairobi in September 2022.
In April 2016, 49 people died when a six-storey apartment building collapsed in the northeastern part of the capital after days of heavy rain caused flooding and landslides.