Nairobi's Eastleigh building collapse: woman's body recovered on day eight of search

Rescuers recovered the body of a woman from the rubble of the collapsed building in Eastleigh, Nairobi, early on 30 October, the eighth day of the search, Citizen Digital reported.

Teams found the body after reaching the building's basement. It was taken to the City Mortuary for DNA testing to help identify her. Nairobi North County Commissioner Simon Osumba, who chairs the rescue operation, said: "We will involve the family in the identification process."

The building, which was under construction on 9th Street, collapsed at about 1pm on 23 October.

According to Citizen Digital, authorities said on 29 October that 16 people remained unaccounted for after a verification exercise involving the Kenya Red Cross and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). The Star, in its 30 October report, quoted Osumba giving the same figure. The Eastleigh Voice said a new report from the family of a foreign national had raised the number of reported missing from 16 to 17, while Kenyans.co.ke said at least 15 people were still being sought. Phone data had placed nine of the missing at the building shortly before it collapsed; authorities were pursuing four other cases, and three families had yet to provide the phone numbers needed for tracing.

Dr Duncan Ochieng, Director of the National Disaster Management Unit and the incident commander, said the operation was about 85 per cent complete. He said it covered both rescue and the recovery of bodies, and that reaching everyone trapped would take patience. Citizen Digital put the share of debris cleared at about 80 per cent and The Star at about 85 per cent. Efforts were focused on reaching the basement, where people are believed to have been trapped.

Ochieng also said the site remained a crime scene and asked the public to keep out of the restricted area. Equipment operated by Chinese experts had detected what were believed to be two people alive under the rubble on the evening of 27 October. The next day, officials said teams might not be able to reach the spots where signs of life had been detected, Fica News reported on 29 October. Osumba said the operation had received support from the national government, the Kenya Red Cross and the Eastleigh business community.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has directed the DCI to conduct thorough investigations into the collapse, Citizen Digital reported on 26 October. The probe will examine acts or omissions by county officials, the developer, contractors and other professionals involved in the project.

DCI detectives have been questioning one of the developers and officials from Nairobi County, the National Building Inspectorate and the National Construction Authority about the collapse and whether construction requirements were followed.