18-storey building under construction collapses in Nairobi's Eastleigh

A multi-storey building under construction collapsed in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on Friday, the Red Cross said, as local media reported casualties and looting at the site in the densely populated Eastleigh area.

Videos circulating online showed the structure — reported to be around 18 storeys high — coming down in a single crash that sent large clouds of dust across the business and residential neighbourhood. Journalists who reached the scene found the building reduced to a heap of rubble, with a small number of search and rescue personnel beginning to arrive.

Accounts from residents suggested that the timing of the collapse, around lunchtime on Friday, may have limited the number of people inside. "There were some businesses in the basement, and workers who were busy building," said Abdi Aziz, 25, a local resident. "But as it was the Friday prayer, a lot of them were at the mosque. I think few people died because no one was living there."

Asked whether he could see obvious flaws in the construction process, he said: "Everyone rushes to build in this neighbourhood."

Local media reported looting at the site and the possibility that people were trapped beneath the rubble, with images showing large crowds gathering shortly after the collapse. Police used tear gas to disperse people near the scene, according to reporters present.

Rescue operations had not yet begun when journalists arrived. The site is hemmed in by other high-rise buildings, a layout that complicated access for emergency teams. Official casualty figures had not been released.

Eastleigh is a busy commercial and residential district known for its market areas and as a hub of Kenya's Somali community. Its streets are tightly packed, and reports from the scene described crowds gathering quickly around the rubble.

Nairobi is in the middle of a rapid construction boom, with high-rise buildings appearing across the city. The number of buildings completed annually in the capital rose from 20,025 in 2022 to 25,090 last year, according to the national statistics bureau, as East Africa's leading business hub draws in people from rural areas and neighbouring countries.

Safety has been a persistent concern. A report by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis found that 86 buildings collapsed between 2009 and 2019, killing an estimated 200 people.

An audit of almost 15,000 buildings by the National Building Inspectorate, cited in the report, found that 4.8 per cent were classified as very dangerous and 72.3 per cent as unsafe.

The cause of Friday's collapse had not been established, and it was not immediately clear whether the building had received the required approvals for construction.