Nairobi Building Collapses, Filling Busy Street With Choking Dust

A haze of dust hung over a street packed with hundreds of people in Nairobi’s Eastleigh district minutes after a multi-story building under construction collapsed on Friday afternoon, October 23, leaving people feared trapped beneath the rubble.

The video was filmed by Sheila Mugo’s assistant from a nearby office and shared by Sheila Mugo on X about eight minutes after the collapse, with the caption, “A building has just collapsed in Eastleigh 9th street.” Shot from high above the street, it shows a dense crowd flooding the road between market stalls and umbrellas as a grey cloud of dust drifts between the surrounding high-rises. Some people hurry along the street while others stand and stare toward the collapse site.

The Kenya Red Cross said the building came down along Yusuf Haji Avenue, next to a supermarket on 9th Street, at around 1:40 p.m. Nairobi City County said the building was still under construction, although the ground floor was already occupied. Nairobi’s regional police commander said it had more than 10 floors.

Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja said one person had been rescued from the rubble and taken to hospital. Governor Johnson Sakaja said people trapped inside had been communicating with rescuers, who were opening up spaces to let in oxygen, as the Kenya Defence Forces, the Kenya Red Cross, county teams and sniffer dogs joined the search. Police fired tear gas to clear crowds that were blocking rescuers.

Sakaja said the building had not complied with construction rules and vowed legal action against its owner, while police said anyone found responsible would face the law. The number of people trapped and the cause of the collapse had not been established.