Pregnant woman rescued from collapsed Eastleigh building

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A pregnant woman was on Saturday evening rescued from the multi-storey building that collapsed in Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate on Friday, October 23.

She is the second person to rescued as earlier in the afternoon the Kenya Red Cross society announced the rescue of a man from the ill-fated building.

The man was taken to the Kenyatta National Hospital for treatment with the society saying that the rescue followed hours of work put in by the search and rescue multi-agency team.

“After hours of painstaking work alongside multi-agency partners, our search and rescue teams in Eastleigh brought a trapped man out of the rubble,” said Red Cross.

The rescue comes even as the fate of six people who were reported missing on Friuday remains unknown with rescue teams still continuing with the search at the site of the collapsed building along Yusuf Haji Avenue.

The society said that 66 of the 67 construction workers who were at the site had been traced and accounted for but the search continues for people who may have been near the site of the collapsed building.

The development comes as police announced that they had launched a manhunt for the for the owner and contractor of a building.

Police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga said that officers had launched a probe in collaboration with relevant bodies to establish the cause of the collapse and determine criminal liability.

“Any individual or entity found culpable of negligence or of violating building regulations will face the full force of the law,” he said in a statement.

Nyaga called on members of public to stay completely clear of Yusuf Haji Avenue and 9th Street to give access to heavy excavators, specialised canine units and rescue personnel to perform their duties.

Earlier Saturday, at least 31 families reported their relatives missing as coordinated rescue efforts entered their second day.

No deaths have been reported so far.

The National Construction Authority (NCA) on Friday evening identified the developer, contractor, architect and structural engineer listed for the collapsed building.

The Authority has faced scrutiny over its oversight role, as Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said the project had failed to comply with construction guidelines.

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He said the county had forwarded relevant information to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for further investigation.

In a statement, the NCA said the building was registered on July 30, 2025, as a proposed development on 9th Street in Eastleigh.

It identified 9th Street Plaza Limited as the developer and Stromax Holdings E.A. Limited as the contractor.

Emmanuel Mwangi Maina was listed as the project architect, while Joseph Muturi Mugu was named as the structural engineer.