After a multi-storey building under construction, located along 9th Street and First Avenue, with shops on the ground floor and in the basement already operating, collapsed, several workers who survived, have shared frightening accounts of how they ran for their lives.
In the video seen by TNX, one worker said he was on the sixth floor when the building started falling. He escaped with dust covering his body and warned that some of his colleagues were still trapped inside.
“There are people stuck inside. I was just on the sixth floor, so many workers are still inside there,” he said.
Another worker, Alexander Mugure, said the workers noticed a crack on one of the main structural columns shortly before the collapse.
They shouted to warn each other, and many people rushed out of the building. He said about 70 workers were at the site when the disaster happened.
Other workers said they first heard and felt the building shaking. As the structure began to fall, dust filled the area, making it difficult for people to see. Some survivors said they had to use their phone torches to see the people next to them.
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The building reportedly began to shake before collapsing completely. Workers on the lower floors managed to run outside, while others on higher floors tried to escape as debris came down.
The collapse happened quickly, leaving a huge pile of rubble and raising fears that people inside the shops and basement were trapped.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said 67 construction workers were at the site. He confirmed that all of them had been accounted for, with 66 escaping uninjured and one being treated in hospital.
However, seven people, believed to have been in the shops or basement, remain missing.
Rescue teams from the Kenya Red Cross, Kenya Defence Forces, police, Nairobi County and other agencies are searching the rubble. Rescuers have reportedly made contact with some of the missing people.
Police Commander Issa Mohamud said investigators are looking into possible criminal negligence.
The building’s owner and officials who approved the construction may face action if found responsible.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said the building did not comply with construction guidelines.