Nairobi's Eastleigh collapse: search called off after 15 days with eight dead, three missing

Authorities have called off the search at the collapsed building in Eastleigh, Nairobi, after 15 days, with eight bodies recovered, four people rescued alive and three still unaccounted for, Citizen Digital and The Eastleigh Voice reported on 6 November.

"We are calling off the exercise today after having managed to reach all the basements of the building which collapsed," Nairobi North County Commissioner Simon Osumba said, as quoted by Citizen Digital. Six of the dead were women and two were men. The three people still unaccounted for will now be treated as missing persons, and the National Police Service will take over follow-up with their families.

Six of the eight bodies were recovered on Thursday 5 November, the 14th day of the search, as rescuers reached the basement; four of the six were women and two were men. "We have recovered six more bodies and the total is now eight. We have reached the basement of the building," Osumba said that day.

The 18-storey building, still under construction with some lower floors reportedly already occupied, collapsed on 23 October. Eastleigh is a high-density commercial and residential neighbourhood of the capital.

Post-mortems and DNA tests are under way at the Nairobi City Mortuary, and the remains have not been released pending DNA procedures. Osumba said two families had been told about the first two bodies, The Star reported. Nairobi City County Government will cover DNA testing, burial and transport costs and mortuary bills.

The Kenya Defence Forces, the National Disaster Management Unit, the National Disaster Operations Centre, Nairobi City County Government and the Kenya Red Cross took part in the operation. The site remains cordoned off while debris is cleared. No final account of how the building came down has been given.