A multi-storey building under construction collapsed on Friday morning ( 2nd Jan 2026) in the Shopping Centre area of Nairobi’s South C estate, sending residents and passersby into panic as a huge cloud of dust and debris spread across the neighbourhood.
Emergency and disaster response teams were swiftly deployed to the scene, though authorities were yet to confirm whether any people had been trapped beneath the rubble or sustained injuries at the time of reporting.
Witnesses said the collapse occurred suddenly, forcing nearby residents, pedestrians, and business owners to flee as sections of concrete and metal came crashing down. Thick dust filled the surrounding streets, temporarily disrupting activity in the area.
The Kenya Red Cross confirmed that a multi-agency team had been mobilised to manage the crisis and undertake search-and-rescue operations.
“The area has been cordoned off as the National Disaster Management Unit, Nairobi City County, the National Police Service, and the Kenya Red Cross continue search and rescue operations,”
the humanitarian agency said in a statement.
The site remained sealed off as officials worked to secure the perimeter and assess the structural integrity of adjacent buildings.
As of publication time, neither the Nairobi City County Government, the National Government, nor the National Construction Authority (NCA) had released an official statement on the cause of the collapse or the status of investigations.
Recent Warnings Over Unsafe Structures
The incident comes less than a month after the NCA issued an alert to residents in Nairobi’s Westlands area following reports of visible cracks in a 13-storey building along Peponi Road. The authority warned that the structure — which was still under construction — was at risk of collapse due to suspected structural failures and dispatched a quality-assurance team to conduct compliance checks.
Cases of building collapses and construction-site safety breaches have been on the rise in parts of Nairobi, particularly in Westlands and its environs.
On July 31 last year, several workers were injured after a wall collapsed at a construction site on 147 Rhapta Road. Reports indicated that the site — allegedly managed by a foreign contractor — had multiple safety violations, including lack of a signboard and inadequate safety-compliance measures.
Earlier in February, one person died after a three-storey building under construction collapsed on Third Avenue in Parklands. Witnesses said the building came down after most workers had left for the day. The deceased, who had remained behind to monitor CCTV equipment, was later found trapped in the debris.
Authorities are expected to release further updates as investigations into the South C collapse continue.
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