Issa Mohamud said a building under construction with more than 10 upper floors collapsed Friday in Nairobi's Eastleigh area, a Nairobi Kenya building collapse that left many people feared trapped under rubble. The structure went down at about 1 p.m. in a busy commercial area.
Hours later, rescuers in hard hats were using poles stripped from trees to poke through the huge pile of concrete and steel. One excavator arrived and began moving debris away so crews could reach the lower floors.
Eastleigh rubble and rescue
The collapse left a huge mound of concrete, with more than a dozen floors stacked like pancakes and little space between them. The ground-level and basement floors had been rented out as shops while construction continued above, turning the site into a crowded mix of commerce and building work.
The Kenya Red Cross said its teams were on their way as the search continued. Residents said some of their loved ones had made phone calls calling for help immediately after the collapse, and those phones later became unreachable.
Issa Mohamud in Nairobi
Mohamud, the Nairobi police chief, also said police fired tear gas at people who had begun looting neighboring shops. That made the response more difficult at the same site where rescuers were trying to reach trapped people and move concrete bound with steel.
Building collapses are a recurring problem in Nairobi, and county officials responsible for issuing building permits have been accused of failing to conduct adequate inspections to ensure developers comply with safety guidelines and construction standards. For people near the site, the immediate question is whether crews can reach the lower floors before the rubble shifts again.
