Six people have reportedly died and several others sustained injuries after a building under construction collapsed near Gateway Mall along Mombasa Road in Syokimau, Machakos County.
Approximately four other people sustained various injuries in the incident, prompting an emergency response involving the Kenya Red Cross, National Police Service and other rescue teams. In an update, the Kenya Red Cross confirmed that three people had been rescued and taken to hospital, while one person was reported missing.
“Three people have been rescued and taken to hospital after a building under construction collapsed in Syokimau. Search and rescue operations are ongoing for one person reported missing.
“Our Red Cross Action Team is on site, working alongside other partners. We will share more updates as they come in,” the organisation said.
Rescue operations were still underway as emergency teams worked to establish whether additional people were trapped beneath the rubble. The cause of the collapse had not immediately been established, with questions likely to emerge over the building’s construction standards, approvals and safety compliance.
The incident comes weeks after another deadly building collapse in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area, where an 18-storey structure under construction collapsed along 9th Street on October 23. The Eastleigh tragedy triggered a multi-agency search and rescue operation that ended on November 6. Eight bodies were recovered, four people were rescued alive, while three others were still reported missing.
The incident raised concerns over construction safety and regulatory enforcement, with investigations focusing on the parties involved in the development.
