NAIROBI, Kenya — Emergency crews are searching for seven missing people after a building under construction collapsed in Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighbourhood on Friday, while authorities confirmed that all 67 construction workers had been accounted for.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said 66 workers escaped without injury and one was receiving hospital treatment in stable condition. The search continued for people connected to occupied commercial premises on the building’s lower levels.
Search Focuses on Occupied Shops
The collapse occurred at about 1 p.m. near Ninth Street and Yusuf Haji Avenue. Shops were operating beneath the unfinished upper floors, placing traders and others inside the premises at risk.
Murkomen said approximately 11 shops in the basement and on the ground floor were occupied. Responders had established contact with some people beneath the debris as teams worked to locate those still missing.
“I am also informed that there were 67 workers on site, and all the 67 workers have been accounted for,” Murkomen said.
The accounting of construction workers did not resolve the separate search for people who may have been inside the shops.
Responders Face Unstable Wreckage
Kenya Red Cross personnel joined police and other emergency agencies at the scene. The organisation asked members of the public to keep their distance so responders could carry out search and rescue work safely.
Nairobi police chief Issa Mohamud warned that further collapse remained possible because the damaged structure was leaning against a neighbouring building. That instability complicated access to the wreckage and efforts to reach spaces where survivors might be found.
Building Approvals Under Scrutiny
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said the development had construction approval but lacked an occupation certificate. He said the operation of shops on the ground floor therefore breached occupancy requirements. Police said investigations would examine possible negligence and determine whether legal action was warranted.
Authorities had not established the cause of the collapse. For emergency teams, the immediate priority remained locating the missing people as the search continued.
