Families who braved the cold and rain to camp day and night along Ninth Street in Eastleigh, where an 18-storey building collapsed on October 13, 2026, are still waiting for answers after the multi-agency team called off the rescue and recovery operation on Friday.
After days of anxious waiting, three families are yet to establish the whereabouts of their loved ones. Authorities said the search teams had examined all the basement compartments but were unable to locate the three missing people.
They urged families who still have missing relatives to continue reporting their cases at police stations across the Nairobi region.
“So right now we are calling off the exercise and as we do so, remember initially we had 11 missing persons of which now up to now there are some 3 missing persons which after searching all the basement compartments, we are still not able to get the other 3 persons,” said Nairobi North County Commissioner Simon Osumba.
Authorities said some families had not provided the exact locations of their missing relatives, while others had submitted names without sufficient details. They warned that legal action would be taken against those found to have provided false information in the hope of receiving compensation.
At the conclusion of the operation, all six women who had been reported missing had been accounted for. The identification process was still under way, with one recovered male body yet to be identified, while three men remained unaccounted for.
Osumba added: “And we'll be able to get to contact the families so that they can also continue reporting the persons within the police stations across the Nairobi region. But as of now we can confidently say that our teams have only managed to get 8 bodies from these debris which were moved from the basement and in all the areas.”
Ninth Street had been cordoned off during the rescue operation, which later shifted to recovery efforts. Families and members of the multi-agency team camped at the scene as they searched for missing people.
The number of people initially reported missing stood at 52 on the first day before narrowing to 20 several days later.
By the sixth day, the number of people suspected to be missing within the vicinity had dropped from 20 to 16 following verification by the Kenya Red Cross, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the multi-agency team.
Authorities said four cases were still awaiting further information, while the families of three people reported missing had yet to provide their telephone numbers. Further verification subsequently reduced the number of missing people to 11, with eight bodies accounted for.
The multi-agency team said its remaining task was to clear debris from the street to restore access and allow businesses to resume operations.
“Right now what we are also doing is just to make sure that the place is accessible. Remember these main streets had been partially blocked, but before we leave here we'll make sure that it is accessible to the motorists and also to allow the businesses which had been closed here to resume with the operations,” said Osumba.
The recovered bodies are being preserved at the City Mortuary as families await DNA analysis to establish the identities of their loved ones before burial arrangements can be made.
Osumba said the Nairobi County Government, through the governor, had committed to supporting affected families with funeral arrangements.
“The county government through the governor have committed to supporting the families with the burial arrangements, despite waiving the fees at the mortuary. They will be able to take all that bills and also help the families with the transport arrangements and for the burial for decent burial arrangements,” said Osumba, speaking on behalf of the multi-agency team.
The Kenya Red Cross has also deployed personnel to the mortuary to continue supporting the families as post-mortem examinations are conducted on the recovered bodies.
One of those who died in the collapse was Joyce Inyanji Windo, who had travelled to Eastleigh to buy materials for her curtains business based in Kawangware, Nairobi, unaware that it would be her final trip.
According to her younger sister, Robai Windo, Joyce arrived in Eastleigh at around 1pm on Friday, only to find the shop owner closing the premises to attend prayers.
With the shop closed, Joyce and others decided to wait at another shop within the same building, owned by one of their customers, as they waited for prayers to end.
“On that Friday, she had communicated with her daughter, who was also supposed to send her to buy some items. When they found the shop owner closing, they decided to sit at another shop in the building as they waited for prayers to end,” Robai recalled.
Speaking after identifying her sister's body at the City Mortuary, Robai said the family became worried when Joyce could not be reached on her phone following the incident.
“We kept calling her phone, but it was not going through. We later contacted the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), who informed us that the last signal from Joyce's phone had been traced to Eastleigh,” she said.
Robai described her late sister as a joyful, beautiful and smart woman whose absence would leave a huge gap in the family.
“My sister was beautiful and always smart. Whenever I walked with her, I felt good. She really loved my children, and whenever there was an event to attend, she would ask me to accompany her. I will miss her so much,” she said.
Joyce's second-born daughter, Olivia Naliaka, said her mother had called her on the fateful Friday to inform her that she was heading to Eastleigh to purchase materials.
“There were some things I wanted to send her, but I thought there was no need because she probably knew exactly what I wanted,” said Naliaka, a wig stylist and makeup artist.
She recalled feeling uneasy while at her shop on the day of the incident, only for the family to later learn about the building collapse through news reports.
“I just felt in my heart that things were not right. When we saw the news about the building collapse, I tried calling her phone, but it was not going through. It was not until the following day that the DCI traced her phone signal to Eastleigh,” she said.
“It is very painful. You are with someone today and tomorrow they are no longer there.”
Naliaka described her mother as a loving, caring and prayerful woman who always stood by her children, offering support and comfort whenever they needed it.
“She was always comforting and prayerful. She supported us wherever she could, fought for us and will remain our warrior forever. She may not have been able to provide everything we needed, but she gave us the love we needed, and that love will remain with us,” she said.
The grieving daughter also questioned the government's response to the rescue operation, blaming what she termed a slow process that left families anxious as they waited for news of their loved ones.
“If it were a prominent person, I believe they would have quickened the process,” she said, urging the government to support families affected by the tragedy.
The tragedy has also taken a toll on the family, with Naliaka revealing that her father suffered a stroke after learning of his wife's death. She said her father developed high blood pressure, which resulted in a blood clot in his brain and led to his admission to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
“My father developed pressure, causing a blood clot in his head, but we thank God he was successfully operated on,” she said.
While eight bodies have been recovered and two people rescued alive, three people remain unaccounted for following the collapse. Families who spent days waiting at the scene have continued to seek answers, with some saying they were prepared for any outcome as long as they could find their loved ones.
The identities and whereabouts of the three missing people remain unknown. Authorities said some of the families who initially reported missing relatives could not be reached to provide further details, leaving the search for answers unresolved even as the operation comes to an end.
