Panic tore through Nairobi on Friday after a 16-story building under construction suddenly collapsed — trapping workers alive beneath tons of concrete.
The skyscraper-in-progress crumbled without warning in the city’s crowded South C district. Witnesses say the noise was like an explosion. Within seconds, the site vanished into a mountain of dust and debris.
“It was like an earthquake,” said resident Peter Waweru, who lives nearby. “People were running, screaming. You could hear voices crying out from under the rubble.”
Among those trapped is the brother of Safia Ali Aden, who received a chilling phone call moments after the collapse.
“He called me while he was still under there,” she told local reporters through tears. “He said, ‘I’m still alive. Please find me.’ We’re begging the government to save him.”
Rescue workers from the Kenya Defence Forces and the Kenya Red Cross clawed through the ruins with bare hands and heavy machinery. Military trucks, floodlights, and cranes swarmed the site as families wailed behind yellow tape.
Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku confirmed that at least four people remain trapped. Officials fear the toll could rise as nightfall slows rescue operations. “It’s a race against time,” one rescuer said. “We can still hear faint knocking.”
Authorities have not determined what caused the collapse, but investigators suspect weak construction and shoddy materials — a deadly trend that has plagued Kenya’s capital for years.
In 2015, eight buildings collapsed in Nairobi, killing at least 15 people. A national audit later found that nearly 60% of the city’s buildings were unfit for habitation — but developers kept building anyway.
“This keeps happening because no one is ever held accountable,” said engineer and safety activist Joseph Mwangi. “It’s profit over people — every time.”
By late evening, rescuers were still digging under floodlights. Families prayed. Phones kept ringing from the rubble.
And the sound of survivors — faint but real — echoed through the wreckage.
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