Eastleigh Building Collapse Survivor Speaks Hours After Tragedy: “Kuna Wale Wamebaki Ndani”

A worker who was inside a Nairobi building when it collapsed in Eastleigh has emerged to tell his story, visibly shaken and coated head to toe in dust after barely escaping with his life.

Construction worker who survived storey building collapse narrates ordeal. Photo: Cyprian Nyakundi. Source: FacebookThe man appeared in a video circulating online, struggling to string sentences together as a crowd of curious onlookers pressed in around him, each wanting to understand how he had made it out alive.

He clutched a bottle of water, taking occasional sips as he gathered himself enough to speak.

Nairobi: Many feared trapped in rubble after multi-storey building collapses in Eastleigh

The worker revealed he had been on the sixth floor of the structure when it gave way beneath him. His most pressing concern, however, was not his own survival but the fate of those who had not yet emerged.

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Nearby, a handful of his colleagues sat along the roadside in a similar state, dust still settled on their faces and cloth draped loosely over their heads.

Several of them appeared to be on their phones, reportedly breaking the news to worried relatives.

One bystander, visibly moved by the man's survival, offered words of comfort.

The multi-storey building under construction came down on Friday, October 23, at around 1 pm along Yusuf Haji Avenue, near Day to Day Supermarket on 9th Street.

The collapse triggered an immediate rescue operation as fears mounted that a number of workers had been buried under the rubble.

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Kenya Red Cross confirmed the incident in a statement posted on X, noting that its response teams were already making their way to the scene.

The organisation urged members of the public to keep away from the area to allow rescue efforts to proceed without obstruction.

Previously, TUKO.co.ke also highlighted facts about the incident at Avenida Building on Moi Avenue, where four workers were injured during planned demolition works and emergency teams confirmed all 24 workers were accounted for.

Three injured workers were taken to Kenyatta National Hospital, while canine search teams checked whether anyone remained trapped beneath the debris.

A structural safety assessment must be completed before work resumes at the site.

Lynn-Linzer Kibebe (Human interest editor) Lynn-Linzer Kibebe is a versatile and resolute digital journalist with more than six years of experience in media. She currently works as a human interest editor at TUKO.co.ke, where she focuses on feel-good stories and day-to-day pieces that touch on the human aspect of life driving societal change. She can be reached via email address lynn-linzer.kibebe@tuko.co.ke