Witnesses recount collapse of South C building as residents demand action

Search efforts at a collapsed building in Nairobi's South C estate along Muhoho avenue. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

At least four people are trapped inside a 14-storey building under construction that collapsed in Nairobi's South C estate along Muhoho Avenue, early Friday. 

Families of two of those trapped and identified as security guards who were manning the building expressed fear that their kin are dead.

"Our brothers who were guarding the building were receiving calls telling us they are trapped. But at around 10.30am, they stopped responding. We fear they are dead," said Ali Adan Korombo, a relative of Hassan Isaack, one of the guards trapped.

"I feel pain," he emotionally expressed, urging the government to speed up the rescue efforts.

Two other victims who are yet to be identified are said to have been pedestrians who stood nearby when the building came down. 

Another victim of the tragedy, it also emerged, was a taxi driver identified as Gideon Kimathi, who escaped death by a whisker after debris from the collapsed building fell on his car, damaging its windscreen.

A report from the police indicated that Kimathi, who reported the incident at Akila Police Station, was rushed to Mbagathi Hospital.

Assistant Inspector General of Police and Director National Disaster Management Unit, Dr Dancun Ochieng, who heads the rescue operation, expressed fear that more people might be trapped inside the rubble since the building was locate along a "busy road."

"We cannot authoritatively say so, but we have information that at least two people have been contacted inside there. We are working to have data, but by the end of the day, once the evacuation is done, then we can authoritatively talk about how many people were inside there," he said.

"Given that this is also a public road, we don't know how many people were on this road at that time," he added, stating that the rescue operation is expected to be completed by tomorrow, Saturday.

Odhiambo Collins, a witness and a resident of the area, recounted the moment the building came down. "It was 4 am and we heard screams and commotion. Coming out, we saw a state of confusion where everybody was trying to scamper to safety. The building crumbled slowly," said Collins.

Search efforts at a collapsed building in Nairobi's South C estate along Muhoho avenue. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

The National Disaster Management Unit are heading the recovery operations in collaboration with Disaster Response Battalion from the Kenya Defence Forces, Kenya Red Cross and Nairobi County Government, with National Youth Service expected to join the frail.

By 6 pm on Friday, no rescue or recovery had been made as search efforts continued. 

At about 1.30pm Friday, the emergency search operations at the scene were temporarily halted as a neighbouring building showed signs of instability.

Speaking to the press, authorities said the initial collapse might have impacted the neighboring structure, knocking out its critical support pillars and leaving it in a "delicate" state.

“The adjacent building was also affected because its pillars were knocked,” said the Head of Operations at the National Disaster Management, William Sifuna.  “We are trying to move members of the public away and control the ground so that we avoid more casualties.”

The Standard also observed some parts of the walls of the adjacent building damaged by the rubble of the collapsed building.

The operations resumed about an hour later after assessment of the building by engineers who cleared it as not posing an alarming threat, at least "as at now."

However, the county government, in a statement, said the adjacent building has been identified as "high risk structure, with potential structural compromis resulting from vibrations of and impact caused by collapse." 

Preliminary investigations, according to Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku, indicate that the said building collapsed due to column overload.

This, the CS claimed, happened after the contractors added two extra floors contrary to approval documents.

"On August 11, last year, the Nairobi City County government gave an order stopping the construction of the building. It seems that the order was not complied with," he stated, accusing the contractor, the supervising engineer and owners of being responsible for the tragedy.

Public Service CS Geoffrey Ruku addresses the media after witnessing search efforts at the collapsed building in South C Nairobi on January 2,2026. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

Agitated South C residents called for arrest and prosecution of owners and developers linked to the collapsed building, even as they accused authorities, including the Johnson Sakaja-led administration of negligence.

In a statement, they said: "The residents of South C are not opposed to development. We are opposed to unlawful, unsafe, and unaccountable development that places human life at risk."

The South C Residents Association now wants the area declared an investigation zone even as they called for a thorough probe into the disaster.

The area legislator, Phelix Odiwuor alias Jalang'o, questioned the authorisation procedure for the construction of residential buildings in South C.

In defense, the county administration said, it flagged the construction as "subject enforcement action on varying dates in May, July and December, 2025 over a number of infractions."