World

Unfinished Eight‑Storey Building Collapses in Syokimau, Killing Six

By Al Jazeera Staff

An unfinished eight‑storey building collapsed on Friday morning in Syokimau, on the outskirts of Nairobi, killing six people. The uppermost concrete slab gave way, bringing down part of the structure, according to a preliminary report from Nairobi City County’s emergency team. The report did not determine why the slab failed. The Kenya Red Cross initially reported that three people had been rescued and one was missing; later TV reports said five people were pulled alive from the rubble and taken to hospital. The emergency report noted that the number of workers present at the time of the collapse had not been confirmed, leaving open the possibility that others were trapped. Firefighters and specialist rescue teams continued to search for survivors. Patrick Makau, the Member of Parliament for Mavoko, which includes Syokimau, urged rescue agencies to act quickly, writing, “Every second counts,” and offering condolences to the victims’ families. The collapse follows a similar incident in Nairobi on October 23 that killed eight people. The twin disasters have prompted calls for tougher construction oversight. The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis has identified poor workmanship, inadequate supervision, substandard materials and faulty designs as wider causes of building collapses.