Eastleigh building collapse: Death toll rises to 8 as six more bodies recovered from rubble

Responders are appealing to families still searching for their loved ones to remain patient, with five people still unaccounted for as the operation nears its final stage.

The number of bodies recovered from the rubble of the collapsed 18-storey building in Eastleigh, Nairobi, has risen to eight after six more bodies were retrieved on Thursday, the 14th day of the search and rescue operation.

Responders are appealing to families still searching for their loved ones to remain patient, with five people still unaccounted for as the operation nears its final stage.

Fourteen days into the search and rescue operation, multi-agency teams have finally reached the basement of the collapsed building, where six more bodies were recovered on Thursday, raising the confirmed death toll to eight.

“We have recovered six more bodies and the total is now eight. We have reached the basement of the building," Nairobi North County Commissioner Simon Osumba said.

Of the six bodies recovered on Thursday, four were women and two were men. Several people remain unaccounted for, prompting rescuers to appeal to anxious families to remain patient.

“We are still searching for five people whose whereabouts remain unknown, but a total of 11 people were trapped," Director of the National Disaster Management Unit (NDMU) Dr. Duncan Ochieng noted.

With rescuers having reached the basement, the operation is in its final stages, with 95 per cent of the work already complete. The multi-agency team expects to conclude the exercise by Friday, but the search for the five missing people continues.

“We have already completed 95 per cent of the work. We expect to finish tomorrow. We appeal to the families to remain patient as we search for the five people whose whereabouts are still unknown,” Osumba said.

Ochieng said the rescue teams would continue with the operation, expressing hope that it would be completed by Friday.

The 18-storey building collapsed on October 23, 2026, while still under construction, with some of its lower floors already occupied at the time of the incident.