The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) have been deployed to Mombasa to support emergency response efforts following the structural failure of an 11-storey building that began sinking last week at Kilifi Corner in Fayaz Estate, along Abdel Nasser Road.
The deployment was formalized through a Gazette notice issued on April 7, 2025, by Defence Cabinet Secretary Roselinda Soipan Tuya.
“. . . the Kenya Defence Forces was deployed to assist the Ministry of Interior and National Administration and the County Government of Mombasa in the emergency response towards an eleven storeyed building situated at Kilifi Corner, Fayaz Estate along Abdel Nasser Road, Mombasa County, that begun sinking on 2nd April, 2025, endangering adjacent residential and commercial buildings,” Ms Tuya said in the notice.
The building, which started to sink on April 2, has raised major safety concerns for residents and businesses in the area.
Authorities say the structure poses an imminent danger to adjacent buildings and the broader neighbourhood.
In response, the Mombasa County Government and the Ministry of Interior have ordered an evacuation within a 1.2-kilometre radius of the site.
Residents have been urged to vacate immediately, with county officials issuing repeated warnings over the weekend about the potential for collapse.
A multi-agency team comprising KDF personnel, police, county emergency units, and engineers has cordoned off the area and is overseeing the evacuation process.
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir confirmed that the building is scheduled for controlled demolition on Wednesday, April 9, citing risks to human life and surrounding infrastructure.
“We cannot afford to wait. This is a ticking time bomb. Our priority is to secure lives and prevent any further disaster,” Governor Nassir said on Tuesday.
From as early as 8am, the evacuation of patients from Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital had already begun.
Ambulances arrived one after another, parking in a steady line as they collected the 128 patients set to be transferred to Port Reitz Hospital.
Among them were patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), carefully moved under tight supervision.
When the Nation team arrived at the hospital premises, a large crowd had already gathered—relatives waiting anxiously to receive their loved ones who had just been discharged.
The maternity wing was the most crowded, with new mothers and their families forming the largest group preparing to leave.
The building, reportedly constructed without adherence to approved structural standards, has become a flashpoint in the debate over rising unsafe developments in the coastal city.
More than 100 families have been displaced so far, with some being temporarily housed in nearby schools and mosques.
The county government has also established a help desk for those affected.
The incident has sparked renewed calls for stricter enforcement of building codes and a review of ongoing high-rise developments in urban areas across the country.
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