Building Collapses in Eastleigh, Several Trapped

A multi-storey building under construction has collapsed along 9th Street in Eastleigh, Nairobi, with fears that several people may be trapped in the rubble.

The number of people who may have been affected is yet to be established.

Witnesses on the ground said there was chaos and looting had started, with thieves pelting stones at ambulances, forcing them to briefly divert before accessing the scene to start rescue operations.

Police who arrived at the scene used teargas to disperse the crowd gathered at the site.

Nairobi City County emergency response teams also arrived at the scene to assist in the search and rescue operations. 

Preliminary investigations revealed that the 12-storey building was still under construction, with the ground floor already occupied.

Machinery was deployed to support debris removal and facilitate access to potential victims. The Relief Officer has been notified, and efforts to mobilise additional resources are ongoing. 

In an update issued at 2 pm, the county confirmed that the collapsed structure was still under construction, although the ground floor was already occupied.

‎“Rescue teams are assessing the scene and conducting search and rescue operations amid reports that people may be trapped beneath the rubble,” the county said.

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja arrived at the scene of a multi-storey building collapse in Eastleigh on Friday as emergency teams intensified search and rescue operations amid fears that people were trapped beneath the rubble.

‎Sakaja was accompanied by several county officials as he assessed the situation along 1st Avenue, 9th Street, where the 12-storey building under construction came crashing down.

Sakaja says KDF personnel, sniffer dogs and other emergency responders have joined the rescue operation at a collapsed building in Eastleigh, Nairobi.

Sakaja said rescuers were clearing debris using excavators and breakers to remove large pieces of rubble before moving further into the rescue operation.

“Right now, it's for us to save lives, and so we're clearing the debris. Equipment has already been mobilised, excavators and breakers, so that we can be able to remove the big boulders,” he said.

He said the multi-agency operation involved KDF, the National Disaster Operations Centre (NDOC), the county government and the Kenya Red Cross, with health workers on standby.

Sakaja said some people inside the collapsed building had been communicating with rescuers, who were working to open up spaces to allow oxygen in and assess what further action was needed.