A multi-storey building under construction collapsed on a busy commercial street in the Eastleigh neighbourhood of Nairobi on Friday afternoon, and rescuers were still searching the rubble for people believed to be trapped.
Al Jazeera reported that the structure came down at about 1 p.m. local time, with more than ten upper floors under construction. One injured woman had been pulled from the debris and taken to hospital. Nairobi police, civil defence units and security forces were deployed to the site.
Occupied while still being built
The building had been approved for construction but had no certificate of occupation, according to Al Jazeera, and its ground floor was in commercial use — an electronics shop, a butchery and a grocery were operating there without authorisation. Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said the illegal ground-floor occupation “has potentially cost lives.”
Kenya’s National Building Inspectorate and county governments were named in the coverage of the response.
Crowds dispersed with tear gas
Hiru News reported that riot police fired tear gas to disperse residents who tried to block the road leading to the site after the collapse. Al Jazeera also records tear gas being used on crowds, alongside local reports of looting.
Conflicting accounts of the height
The two filings do not agree on the size of the building. Hiru describes it as a 13-storey structure and places it on 9th Street; Al Jazeera says more than ten upper floors were under construction without giving a total. Figures circulating in Kenyan coverage ran higher still. The discrepancy has not been resolved, and no authority has been cited for any single number.
Not reported
Neither filing gives a casualty count. The number of people believed to be inside at the time, and whether any deaths have been confirmed, were not stated in either account — the rescue operation was still under way at the time of writing, and these figures will change.
