Rescue teams in Eastleigh, Nairobi, on Friday morning recovered the body of a woman from the rubble of the building that collapsed on October 23, the first confirmed fatality from the disaster after eight days of searching. The grim discovery came as bulldozers and trucks worked through tonnes of broken concrete, twisted steel and building materials at the site, with at least 15 people still believed to be trapped.

According to Kenyans.co.ke, the body was retrieved at around 6am on Friday, October 30. Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan confirmed in a statement that the victim was a woman, according to several outlets, which also reported that the body had been badly crushed by the concrete and steel of the structure.

Search reaches the basement

The building, which was still under construction, came down at about 1pm on Friday, October 23, along 9th Street near Yusuf Haji Avenue. Reports describe it as an 18-storey structure.

Citizen Digital reported that rescuers had cleared roughly 80 per cent of the debris by Friday, with the operation now concentrated on the basement, where teams believe some of the missing may be. The Star, whose photographers documented excavators and tipper trucks hauling away rubble on Friday, described heavy machinery and a multi-agency team still working at the scene, with a Kenya Red Cross response vehicle on standby.

The operation has drawn in the National Disaster Management Unit (NDMU), the Kenya Red Cross, Nairobi County emergency teams, police and the Kenya Defence Forces, who joined the effort on October 26. On Tuesday evening, specialised acoustic, thermal-imaging and radar equipment operated by Chinese experts detected what were believed to be two people still alive beneath the debris. NDMU Director Dr Duncan Ochieng said teams were working to reach the locations flagged by the equipment. Authorities had not given a fresh update on those signals by the time the woman's body was recovered.

How many are missing

The exact number of people unaccounted for has shifted as officials verify reports from families:

  • On Wednesday, October 28, Dr Ochieng put the figure at 16 people.
  • Nairobi North County Commissioner Simon Osumba said phone records placed nine of the missing at the site shortly before the collapse.
  • Information on four other cases was still being sought, while three families had yet to provide phone numbers needed for tracing.
  • After Friday's recovery, outlets including People Daily and Kenyans.co.ke put the number still missing at 15, while others, citing earlier official figures, reported 16.

Approvals and the criminal probe

The question of who approved the building and whether construction rules were followed has become politically charged. The Director of Public Prosecutions has directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate possible failures by public officials, developers and construction professionals.

Detectives have so far questioned one of the developers, who has not been publicly named, as well as officials from Nairobi County, the National Building Inspectorate and the National Construction Authority, Citizen Digital reported. No one has been charged, and the cause of the collapse has not been officially established.

The approval status of the building is also at the centre of a public row between Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino. Sakaja threatened legal action over social media posts by Owino about how the building was approved, but the MP has refused to withdraw them or apologise, according to Kenyans.co.ke.

Traders count the cost

The disaster has also disrupted business in one of Nairobi's busiest trading hubs. Authorities warned that neighbouring buildings, including the Kamukunji Business Centre, may have been weakened by the collapse, prompting eviction orders. On Thursday, hundreds of traders took to the streets to protest against the evictions, saying they were being pushed out of their livelihoods without clear answers.

The collapse has revived wider concerns about high-rise construction in Nairobi. On the same day the body was recovered, the Supreme Court faulted Nairobi County for approving tall buildings in Westlands using a planning policy that had not been passed by the County Assembly.

What happens next

Rescue teams are expected to continue clearing the basement in the coming days in the hope of reaching the remaining missing people. Families have been asked to keep working with the Kenya Red Cross tracing desk, while the DCI is expected to compile its findings for the prosecutor once questioning of developers and officials is complete. Officials have not said when the operation will formally end.

Photos: Kenyans.co.ke; The Star (Moses Mwangi). Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.