A building under construction collapsed in Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighborhood Friday afternoon, burying parts of the structure under a vast mound of concrete and raising fears that workers and others could be trapped inside.
The multistory building gave way at about 1 p.m. along a busy commercial street in an area typically packed with thousands of traders and residents. More than a dozen floors appeared to crumple onto one another as the structure fell.
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Nairobi police chief Issa Mohamud said the building had more than 10 upper floors still under construction. Rescue efforts were complicated when police fired tear gas to disperse people accused of looting nearby shops, clearing a path for emergency crews and responders.
Joseph Kaula, a plasterer who had been working on the fifth floor, said he escaped moments before the collapse. He heard screams and saw fellow workers running toward the exit, shouting that the building was coming down.
“I was the last person to walk out before it collapsed and the whole area was filled with dust,” Kaula said.
He feared that several colleagues could be trapped in the basement.
One injured woman was pulled from the wreckage and taken to a hospital, Mohamud said. Another person who had been calling for help later fell silent. The police chief cautioned that the neighboring building could also be at risk because the collapsed structure was leaning against it.
The response initially lacked heavy machinery. Hours after the collapse, rescuers wearing hard hats used poles stripped from trees to probe the rubble. An excavator began shifting concrete tangled with steel, while at least two more back shovels reached the site by evening.
Staff from the Kenya Defence Forces Disaster Response Battalion and other first responders work to clear debris from a collapsed building from the road of a residential building that crumbled as it was still under construction in the Eastleigh neighborhood of Nairobi, Oct. 23, 2026. (AFP Photo)
Rescue teams were focused on possible voids in the basement and at ground level. Those areas had been leased to an electronics shop, a butchery and a grocery store even as work continued on the upper floors.
Residents said some relatives believed to be trapped managed to call for help immediately after the collapse, but their phones later became unreachable. Authorities established a tent where families could register missing people, though the number of individuals who might be inside the debris remained unknown.
Building collapses are a recurring problem in Nairobi. County officials who issue construction permits have faced accusations of failing to carry out sufficient inspections and ensure developers follow safety rules and construction standards.
“Investigations will be carried out,” Mohamud said. “We’ll make sure people face the law for any negligence.”
Nairobi Gov. Johnson Sakaja said the project had received construction approval but lacked a certificate of occupation. As a result, he said, operating shops on the ground floor was illegal. Kenya’s county governments need greater enforcement authority, Sakaja added, saying the lenient penalties imposed on developers who breach regulations amount to little more than a “slap on the wrist.”
