An 18-storey building under construction collapsed along 9th Street on Mahmud Yusuf Avenue in Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate on Friday afternoon, triggering a major search and rescue operation.
The incident, which occurred on October 23, sent massive clouds of dust across the commercial hub, bringing business and vehicular traffic along the busy street to a sudden standstill. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the structure crumble into a heap of concrete and metal twisted rubble.
Emergency response teams—including officers from the Kenya Red Cross, National Disaster Management Unit (NDMU), and Nairobi City County Fire Services—have been dispatched to the scene to search for survivors. Preliminary reports indicate that construction workers and passersby may have been trapped beneath the collapsed structure.
“Several people are feared trapped under the rubble, and emergency response teams are working to establish the exact number of casualties and rescue survivors,” disaster management officials reported from the site.
The cause of the collapse remains under investigation as multi-agency rescue teams secure the perimeter to clear debris and assist affected individuals.