Under-Construction Tower Collapses in Nairobi's Eastleigh District

A building under construction collapsed in the Eastleigh neighbourhood of Nairobi, Kenya's capital, on the afternoon of Friday, October 23, 2026, according to the Kenya Red Cross and multiple news organisations that reported from the scene. The collapse happened along Yusuf Haji Avenue on 9th Street, next to the Day to Day Supermarket, according to the Kenya Red Cross and the Kenyan outlet Kenyans.co.ke. Eastleigh is a densely built commercial and residential district known as a hub for Nairobi's Somali community, France 24 reported.

Al Jazeera reported the collapse occurred at around 1 p.m. local time. France 24, citing AFP, described it as happening around lunchtime the same day.

How tall was the building?

News organisations gave differing figures for the building's height, reflecting the confusion typical of a fast-moving disaster. Al Jazeera described "more than 10 upper floors" under construction above a basement and ground floor used for shops. France 24 reported it as a 16-storey building, while Kenyans.co.ke described an 18-floor structure. None of the figures had been confirmed by a single official document reviewed for this article.

Casualties and people unaccounted for

No official death toll had been confirmed by any of the sources reviewed at the time of writing. Kenya's Interior Minister, Kipchumba Murkomen, said seven people had been reported missing, according to France 24. Al Jazeera reported a higher figure, saying about 11 people who had been in ground-floor shops were unaccounted for, and that Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja had suggested that one or two deaths were possible, without confirming a toll.

Of 67 construction workers who had been on site, 66 escaped and one was injured, according to figures from Murkomen reported by both Al Jazeera and France 24. Al Jazeera said two people in total had been rescued from the rubble with injuries; France 24 reported that one woman was pulled from the debris alive, in addition to the injured worker.

Kenyans.co.ke noted that the building's lower floors were occupied by operating shops and rental units even as construction continued above, which is one reason people other than construction workers were caught in the collapse.

Rescue operations

The Kenya Red Cross said in a statement quoted by Kenyans.co.ke: "A building has collapsed along Yusuf Haji Avenue, next to Day to Day Supermarket on 9th Street, Eastleigh. Kenya Red Cross response teams are en route to the scene." Multi-agency teams including the Kenya Defence Forces, the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, regular police and a Bomb Disposal Unit were deployed alongside county and national government rescuers and the Red Cross, Kenyans.co.ke reported.

Al Jazeera reported that rescuers had been in contact with some of the survivors still trapped inside, using poles and excavators to clear rubble. Nairobi's police chief, Issa Mohamud, warned of the risk of a secondary collapse at the site, Al Jazeera said.

France 24 reported that rescue teams struggled to access the site because the collapsed structure was wedged between other high-rise buildings. It added that large crowds of onlookers gathered at the scene, prompting police to use tear gas to disperse them, and that looting was reported in the immediate aftermath of the collapse. Kenyans.co.ke also said crowds hampered emergency access and noted that many people in the area were observing Friday prayers at the time, adding to the complexity of the response.

Building safety and the question of a cause

Governor Johnson Sakaja said the building had no occupation certificate, meaning the commercial use of its ground floor was not legally authorised even though construction above was apparently still permitted, according to both Al Jazeera and France 24. The exact cause of the collapse had not been established by authorities at the time these reports were published.

France 24 quoted Bibiye Mahmoud, a representative of the Institution of Engineering Technology, as saying there was a lack of accountability among contractors. Another engineer cited by the outlet, John Ogallo of the Institution of Engineers, said warning signs such as cracks had reportedly been observed in the structure beforehand.

Recurring problem in Nairobi

Al Jazeera and France 24 both referenced findings from Kenya's National Building Inspectorate that 87% of buildings audited nationwide in the previous year failed to meet safety standards or lacked required approvals. France 24 additionally reported that Nairobi recorded 86 building collapses between 2009 and 2019, which killed approximately 200 people, and said corruption has allowed some contractors to bypass regulations.

The French public broadcaster-affiliated outlet franceinfo.fr, citing AFP, similarly noted that Nairobi is undergoing rapid construction growth and that building collapses are not uncommon in Kenya, typically linked to poor construction quality and non-compliance with safety regulations.