Nairobi Building Collapse Search Enters Fifth Day with 20 Still Missing

GOOBJOOG NEWS | NAIROBI: Rescue teams in Nairobi are still searching for 20 people still unaccounted for, five days after a multi-storey building collapsed in the Eastleigh neighbourhood, as difficulties identifying construction workers complicated efforts to establish who may have been trapped.

The Kenya Red Cross said it had recorded 52 missing-person reports linked to the collapse, but had closed 32 cases after people were contacted or reunited with their families. Two survivors were among those rescued from the rubble, it said.

Eleven of those still missing were believed to be casual construction workers. Some were known by only one name, while incomplete identification records and missing telephone numbers had made it difficult for authorities to establish their whereabouts when the building came down.

Rescue teams are working with the Red Cross and Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations, using phone records and equipment designed to detect signs of life beneath the debris.

Authorities have cautioned that being listed as missing does not necessarily mean someone is trapped under the collapsed structure, as investigators continue to verify reports and account for those who may have left the site before the incident.

The round-the-clock operation was about 65% complete, according to the information provided by responders, but underground water, sewer lines and unstable sections of the structure have slowed progress. Officials have said the safety of rescue workers remains a priority as teams navigate the damaged building.

The building collapsed along 9th Street in Eastleigh while construction was under way on its upper floors. Commercial premises occupied the lower section, raising concerns about the number of workers and other people who may have been inside at the time.

Families of those still missing have been urged to provide full names, telephone numbers and any other identifying information that could help rescue teams establish their whereabouts.

The search continues as authorities work to reconcile missing-person reports with verified information about survivors and those who may have been elsewhere when the building collapsed.