Scores Trapped as Building Under Construction Collapses in Karen
At least two people have been confirmed dead and several others critically injured after a building under construction collapsed along Ngong Road in Nairobi’s upmarket Karen area on Saturday evening.
The incident occurred at around 5pm, opposite Karen Community Church, triggering a swift emergency response as fears grew that more workers could still be trapped beneath the rubble.
According to an initial police report, the structure — which was under construction and had reached the first-floor level — suddenly gave way when the floor slab caved in. Two builders who were working on the site at the time were killed instantly.
By 6pm, the Kenya Red Cross Society confirmed that three injured victims had been evacuated from the scene, while seven others were rescued and rushed to hospital for urgent treatment.
However, confusion has since emerged over the exact death toll. Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, who was among the first public figures to comment on the incident, claimed that three people had lost their lives.
“Another building has just collapsed in Karen near KCB. Several people are trapped inside. Three dead bodies have already been confirmed,” Sonko said in a statement shared shortly after the collapse.
As of the time of publishing, neither the police nor the National Construction Authority (NCA) had released an official statement clarifying the number of fatalities. Nonetheless, Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) were present at the scene as investigations into the cause of the collapse got underway.
Emergency crews continued rescue operations late into the evening, with authorities unable to confirm how many people may still be trapped under the debris.
The Karen collapse comes less than two weeks after another deadly incident in Nairobi’s South C estate, where a 12-storey building under construction caved in, killing at least two people and reigniting public outrage over unsafe construction practices in the capital.
Despite the growing concern, Nairobi County Government and the National Disaster Management Unit had not issued updates on the Karen incident by Saturday night.
The latest tragedy also revives long-standing warnings by the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) over the safety of buildings in Nairobi. The professional body has previously cautioned that a significant number of structures in the city are unfit for human occupation.
Experts have blamed the crisis on weak enforcement of building regulations, corruption, and the use of substandard construction materials.
Figures cited by built environment professionals paint a grim picture. Inspections conducted by the National Building Inspectorate reportedly found that only about 15 per cent of assessed buildings were structurally sound.
This means that up to 85 per cent of inspected structures were either unsafe, required major structural repairs, or posed serious risks to occupants — raising fresh questions about how many more disasters Nairobi could be facing.
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Scores Trapped as Building Under Construction Collapses in Karen