Climate & Environment
Kenya engineers’ board opens probe into Eastleigh building collapse
The National Construction Authority listed the developer and contractor for the Eastleigh project, while the Engineers Board said it would investigate the role of engineers. Rescue counts and county accounts of the project’s approvals remain unsettled.
Executive summary
- Regulatory inquiries: The National Construction Authority said its records list 9th Street Plaza Limited as developer and Stromax Holdings E.A Limited as contractor for the Eastleigh project. The Engineers Board of Kenya separately opened an inquiry into the collapse and the role of engineers. Neither regulator had announced findings in the reports reviewed.[1][2][3]
- Unsettled counts: Rescue agencies and officials described different groups and different stages of verification. The Red Cross said 66 of 67 construction workers had been accounted for, while its 31 missing-person reports were still being checked; an interior minister earlier cited seven people reported missing.[4][5][6]
- Cause not determined: The authority’s registration statement did not establish whether the building had been inspected or had county planning approval. The governor’s public descriptions of its approval status also differed between Friday and Saturday, and the cause remains under investigation.[1][7][8]
In a statement after the Oct. 23 collapse, the National Construction Authority said the proposed development on 9th Street was registered with it on July 30, 2025. Its records listed 9th Street Plaza Limited as developer and Stromax Holdings E.A Limited as contractor, along with an architect and structural engineer. The NCA did not describe inspections, compliance checks or Nairobi County approvals in that statement.[1][2]
The Engineers Board of Kenya said it had opened a formal investigation into factors that may have contributed to the collapse and the role of engineers on the project. It said confirmed breaches of professional standards could draw regulatory action. The board had not published findings, and the NCA’s list of project parties is not a determination that any named person or company caused the collapse.[3]
The Kenya Red Cross said on Saturday that 66 of 67 construction workers who had been at the site were accounted for. It separately recorded 31 missing-person cases from families and was contacting them to verify who may still be unaccounted for. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen had earlier said seven people were reported missing. Those figures refer to reports made at different points and should not be read as a confirmed count of people trapped in the rubble.[4][5][6]
The rescue tally also varied by report cutoff. The Star and Citizen Digital reported two people rescued by Saturday evening. The Eastleigh Voice later reported a third survivor, while the People Daily’s subsequent account still described two rescues. The reports reviewed did not reconcile that difference.[9][8][10]
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja told the Associated Press on Friday that the project had been approved for construction but lacked an occupation certificate. The Eastleigh Voice reported that on Saturday he said a review of county records showed the application for a building of more than 15 floors had not been approved. The two descriptions have not been reconciled in the reporting reviewed. Neither the NCA’s registration statement nor the Engineers Board’s announcement establishes the cause of the collapse.[7][8][1][3]