By WILL HALLOWELL, NEWS REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
This is the terrifying moment an 18-storey skyscraper collapses in Kenya as looting breaks out in the rubble amid the hunt for survivors.
Footage shows a dramatic crash and huge clouds of dust as the building – thought to have been around 18 storeys high – comes down in a densely populated business and residential area of Eastleigh in Nairobi.
AFP journalists at the scene saw that the skyscraper has reduced to a pile of rubble as a small number of search-and-rescue teams arrived on the scene.
Resident Abdi Aziz, 25, said: 'There were some businesses in the basement, and workers who were busy building.
'But as it was [the Friday prayer], a lot of them were at the mosque. I think few people died because no one was living there.'
Asked if he could see obvious flaws in the construction process, he said: 'Everyone rushes to build in this neighbourhood.'
Local media reported looting and possible casualties trapped beneath the rubble, with images showing large crowds gathered at the site immediately after the incident, which happened around lunchtime.
Police were seen using tear gas to disperse crowds gathering near the site.
A thick huge cloud of dust and debris engulfed the street and a rescue operation to locate survivors is now under way
Local media reported looting and possible casualties trapped beneath the rubble, with images showing large crowds gathered at the site immediately after the incident
Dramatic footage shows the moment an 18-storey skyscraper in Nairobi, Kenya, collapses mid-construction
There were 86 building collapses in Nairobi between 2009 and 2019, according to a report by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis
The number of buildings completed annually in Nairobi has risen from 20,025 in 2022 to 25,090 last year
The skyscraper was reduced to a pile of rubble as a small number of search-and-rescue teams arrived on the scene
Rescue operations had yet to begin when AFP arrived, with the site hemmed in by high-rise buildings, complicating efforts.
Nairobi is undergoing a rapid construction boom, with high-rise buildings appearing all over the city, particularly in Eastleigh which is known for its busy market areas and as a hub for the Somali community.
There have been many concerns over safety.
There were 86 building collapses between 2009 and 2019, killing an estimated 200 people, according to a report by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis.
An audit of almost 15,000 buildings by the National Building Inspectorate found that 4.8 per cent were very dangerous, 72.3 per cent were classified as unsafe, the report said.
The number of buildings completed annually in Nairobi has risen from 20,025 in 2022 to 25,090 last year, according to its statistics bureau, as east Africa's leading business hub sucks in people from rural areas and neighbouring countries.