Three dead, eight missing as wall collapses in Riverside, Nairobi
Three people have been confirmed dead and 11 others rescued with severe injuries after a perimeter wall collapsed at an active construction site in Riverside, Nairobi, on Saturday.
The Nairobi City County Government said multi-agency rescue teams is still searching for eight other workers whose whereabouts remained unaccounted for following the incident, which occurred at about 11:30am.
According to a situation report issued by County Chief Officer for Disaster Management and Coordination Bramwell Simiyu, 39 construction workers were recorded as being at the site when the wall came down.
Rescue personnel conduct search and recovery operations at the site of a collapsed wall at Riverside Square in Nairobi on November 14, 2026.
“Twenty-two (22) workers have been accounted for, comprising eleven (11) workers rescued alive from the rubble and evacuated to nearby hospitals with severe injuries, and eleven (11) workers confirmed safe and stable at the scene. Three (3) fatalities have been confirmed, with recovery operations for the deceased currently underway,” Mr Simiyu said.
Search and rescue operations, alongside checks with nearby hospitals, were continuing to establish the whereabouts of the remaining eight workers.
"Preliminary assessments indicated that the main building was still at the excavation and foundation stage, with no upper floors erected at the time of the collapse," Mr Simiyu said.
Rescue personnel conduct search and recovery operations at the site of a collapsed wall at Riverside Square in Nairobi on November 14, 2026.
Nairobi County Disaster Management teams, working alongside national emergency agencies, had cordoned off the site to facilitate rescue operations and protect members of the public.
Mr Simiyu said a comprehensive structural and regulatory compliance audit would be conducted after the rescue exercise.
The audit will be undertaken by the County Department of Built Environment and Urban Planning in conjunction with the National Construction Authority (NCA).
Motorists and members of the public were urged to avoid the immediate Riverside area to allow emergency vehicles and heavy rescue machinery unhindered access to the site.
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