Event: Kenya

Yet another catastrophic collapse of a multi-storey building under construction in Nairobi has raised the question of whether any lessons have been learnt from the past fatal incidents. Several people were injured in the Friday incident, and more were reported missing. The building in the Eastleigh area, which has recently seen the construction of numerous high-rise apartment blocks, is a wake-up call to the authorities to enforce construction approvals and regulations more strictly. The Ombudsman not long ago exposed unlawful approvals, negligence, and weak enforcement at a residential high-rise development project in this commercially vibrant neighbourhood. This has brought into focus the harsh reality of the criminal laxity and negligence in enforcing structural safety and regulatory measures. There are reports that some businesses were actually operating on the lower floors of the building while construction continued above in blatant violation of safety rules. This incident once again underscores the systemic failures in the enforcement of regulations that critics and industry experts such as the Architectural Association of Kenya have frequently blamed following similar past tragedies. A recurring danger in the densely populated commercial zones such as Eastleigh is the practice of allowing tenants to occupy finished lower floors while heavy construction continues directly overhead. This drastically escalates the human risk. Investigations into previous building collapses such as the one in Nairobi’s South C that killed several people have revealed that some developers add unauthorised extra floors beyond what the original architectural plans and county structural approvals allowed. The rapid pace of development routinely outpaces the enforcement of building regulations, or some officials are bribed to allow deviations, and the use of poor-quality materials. The recurrence of these disasters leaves the county and national regulatory bodies facing immense scrutiny over why stricter monitoring and structural integrity checks are not being executed.…

Two people have been pulled alive from the rubble of a building that collapsed in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on Friday, as a search continues for five still missing.Police said on Saturday that a manhunt had been launched for the building's owner and the contractor responsible for the site.Dramatic footage shows the bottom floor of the block, thought to have been 16 or 18 storeys, giving way before the rest of the building crumples, sending a plume of dust into the surrounding streets. Dozens of builders had been working on the upper floors when it collapsed, but managed to emerge largely unscathed. Those missing were thought to have been in shops at the base of the building.The incident has raised fresh concerns about construction standards and regulations in Kenya.The block was under construction when it collapsed on Friday afternoon, with footage showing scaffolding still wrapped around the outside of the building. Officials said 11 shops had already opened on the bottom floors.Interior ministry official Kipchumba Murkomen said 66 of the 67 construction workers in the building at the time had been able to get out unharmed, while the other had suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.On Friday, Murkomen said that seven people had been reported missing and rescue teams had made contact with some of those trapped beneath the rubble.The two survivors rescued on Saturday have been taken to hospital, police said.Images from the scene, in Nairobi's Eastleigh area, show the concrete floors of the building piled on top of one another, as rescue workers saw through metal to get to those believed to have been stuck underneath.