Signs of Life Detected Under Collapsed Eastleigh Building

As rescue teams race against time to reach two people detected alive beneath the ruins of a collapsed 16-storey building in Eastleigh, operations are being severely tested by site access constraints, crowd control issues, and scrap-metal looting.

National Disaster Management Director Duncan Onyango confirmed on Wednesday, October 28, that specialised acoustic life detectors operated by Chinese experts and the Kenya Red Cross had picked up signs of life. However, Onyango cautioned that detection does not guarantee an immediate rescue.

Responders face an unprecedented challenge along Yusuf Haji Avenue, next to Day to Day Supermarket, where the structure collapsed on October 23. The confined site restricts machinery and allows access from only one side, while safety concerns remain a top priority for all personnel.

Compounding these physical hurdles, tensions flared on Wednesday when rowdy youths raided Nairobi County trucks transporting scrap metal salvaged from the disaster zone. The chaotic scramble highlighted ongoing security gaps around the handling of commercial materials recovered from the site.

Scrap metal holds significant commercial value and provides income for informal collectors who sell items like copper, brass, aluminium, and steel to dealers by weight. Despite the disruption, recovery teams have managed to access several shops in the basement and ground floor, registering retrieved items and transferring them to a local police station for owners to identify.

Operations have reached nearly 80 per cent completion, with authorities aiming to conclude the exercise by Wednesday evening or Thursday, depending on technical conditions. No victims have been rescued or recovered from the rubble since Saturday.

The search has faced multiple setbacks since the collapse. On Friday, October 23, teams temporarily suspended debris removal after trapped individuals warned that ongoing operations were restricting their oxygen supply. Police also had to repeatedly disperse large crowds of onlookers blocking emergency access routes.

Infrastructure challenges inside the ruins have also slowed progress. Crews successfully worked alongside the Nairobi Water and Nairobi Sewerage Company to clear water that had accumulated in the basement.

Authorities will provide a final accounting of the recovered property once traders identify their belongings. Meanwhile, search teams continue working to determine if anyone else remains trapped beneath the debris.