1 injured, 2 missing after 16-story building under construction collapses in Kenya

At least one person was injured and two others are missing after a 16-story building under construction collapsed early Friday in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, police and a charity organization said.

NAIROBI, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was injured and two others are missing after a 16-story building under construction collapsed early Friday in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, police and a charity organization said.

According to the police and the Kenya Red Cross Society, there were no construction workers on site at the time of the incident, which occurred in the South C residential estate in southern Nairobi.

Langata Sub-County Police Commander Pius Mwanthi said multi-agency teams have been deployed to the scene to dig through the rubble and determine whether there are more casualties.

One man, believed to have been a pedestrian, was injured in the incident and taken to hospital, Mwanthi said, adding that authorities fear more people may be trapped under the debris.

"We are yet to find the guards who were on duty. There were two guards on duty who could not be accounted for. We have a search and rescue team on the ground for now," he said.

Witnesses said the building collapsed at around 4:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT).

"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 Kenya Red Cross Society said in a post on X.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear. However, Kenya has seen several building collapses in recent years, with experts often blaming lax enforcement of construction regulations and inadequate inspections by authorities. ■