At least one person was injured after a 16-storey building under construction collapsed along Muhoho Avenue, South C, Nairobi.
Police said they suspect at least one person was killed in the incident that happened at dawn on January 2, 2025.
The guards on duty were missing and efforts to trace them were ongoing.
The building was under construction at the time of the incident but there were no workers on site then.
Police who responded to the scene said they had not located the guards who were on duty and efforts to account for them were being made.
Langata police boss Pius Mwanthi said multi agency teams had been sent to the scene to start digging through to find out if there are casualties there.
He said one man who they believe was a pedestrian was injured and rushed to the hospital.
“He was walking out there when the apartment collapsed and we suspect there are people trapped therein,” he said.
The building collapsed next to others which are also under construction. It damaged the one adjacent to it.
A guard in the area told police he heard a bang and saw dust only to realise the house was flat.
They rushed to the scene and rescued one injured man to the hospital.
Police and Nairobi City County officials said the owner who locals said is a politician and the contractor of the structure were being sought for grilling. Authorities wanted to establish if the construction followed the laid down rules.
It is not clear what caused the collapse of the structure. It is however not the first one to collapse while under construction.
Dozens such incidents in the past have left many dead and injured. The incidents are still under probe amid complaints the owners had been allowed to reconstruct them with no action.
The incident puts spotlight agencies like the National Construction Authority and the County Government on the issue of compliance to the law.
There have been complaints from Nairobi residents on the mushrooming and unregulated structures.
Some of the issues have ended up in courts.
The incident prompted a debate online with many blaming corruption for the same.
Others blamed greediness
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