Two people were safely pulled from the rubble of a building that collapsed in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, on Friday, while the search continues for five others who remain missing.
Police confirmed on Saturday that a major operation had been launched to search for the building’s owner and the contractor in charge of the site.
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Disturbing footage shows the lower floors of the building—believed to have had between 16 and 18 storeys—collapsing first, shortly before the rest of the structure came down, sending vast clouds of dust and debris through the surrounding streets.
Dozens of construction workers were carrying out their duties on the upper floors when the building collapsed, but most managed to escape safely. The missing people are believed to have been in shops located on the lower floors of the building.
The shocking incident has once again raised serious concerns among the public about building safety standards and compliance with construction regulations in Kenya.
The building was still under construction when it collapsed on Friday afternoon, with footage showing scaffolding still covering the rear and sides of the structure. Authorities said 11 shops had already begun operating on the lower floors.
Senior Interior Ministry official Kipchumba Murkomen said 66 of the 67 workers inside the building at the time managed to escape safely, while the remaining person, who was injured, did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
On Friday, Murkomen said seven people had been confirmed missing and that rescue teams had made contact with some of those trapped beneath the rubble.
The two people rescued alive on Saturday were rushed to hospital for medical treatment, police confirmed.
Images from the scene in Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighbourhood show concrete floors piled on top of one another, while rescue teams use saws to cut through heavy metal in an effort to reach people believed to be trapped underneath.
Questions were immediately raised about what caused the building to collapse so quickly and whether it complied with construction laws and safety plans.
Kenya’s National Construction Authority said in a statement that it had identified the construction company, the engineer who designed the building and the structural engineer, but did not say whether a safety inspection had been carried out at the site before Friday.
Meanwhile, the country’s National Police Service said it had opened a broad investigation to establish the cause of the collapse and determine whether anyone would face criminal liability.
A police statement warned that anyone found to have been negligent or to have violated construction laws would “face the full force of the law”.
Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson told local media that the building’s owners did not have the licences and documents required for the structure to be occupied or used for commercial purposes.
He called on the central government to give local authorities greater powers to impose heavy fines on “builders who disregard approved building designs and safety standards”.
Building collapses are not uncommon in Nairobi, and such incidents are often blamed on poorly supervised construction or faulty planning.
