Six Killed, Five Rescued as Eight-Storey Building Collapses in Nairobi

An eight-storey building under construction collapsed in Nairobi on Friday (November 13), killing at least six people and leaving five rescued and taken to hospital. The collapse happened along Mombasa Road, near the Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway terminus, while workers were on site; a preliminary report said the top slab gave way first, triggering a partial collapse, and the cause is still under investigation. (Photo: the scene on Mombasa Road after the collapse. Image: NAIROBINEWS.CO.KE.)

Collapse at 9:52 a.m.; top slab gave way first

According to a preliminary report by Nairobi City County's emergency team, the building came down at about 9:52 a.m. local time while workers were carrying out concreting work on the upper floors. Three bodies were recovered in the initial morning rescue operation, and three more were later retrieved from the debris; all six victims were middle-aged men. Five survivors were pulled alive from the rubble and rushed to hospital for emergency treatment. The exact number of workers on site was not immediately established, and the Kenya Red Cross said at one point that one person had been reported missing, with search and rescue continuing. The Nairobi City County Fire Brigade, the Urban Search and Rescue team and the Kenya Red Cross were all at the scene, and the county appealed to motorists to avoid the area around the SGR terminus so rescuers had room to work.

Owner and contractor identified; site closed for investigation

Reports identified the building's owner as Reportage Kenya and the contractor as Top Choice Surveillance; the site has been closed and secured pending structural assessments and investigations. The National Disaster Management Unit said the investigation would determine the exact cause of the collapse and whether safety regulations were followed.

Second such collapse in Nairobi in under a month

The collapse is the second of its kind in Nairobi in less than a month. On October 23, an 18-storey building under construction came down in Eastleigh, killing eight people and leaving four rescued alive. The series of accidents has renewed attention on construction safety oversight in the city. (Sources: Nairobi City County emergency reports; Kenya Red Cross; Sacco Review; VantageKE; Vivid Voice News.)