14 people killed in Nairobi building collapse and floods

At least 14 people have died in Kenya including 7 following the collapse of a six-storey building in capital Nairobi amid flooding and rainstorms, police said on Saturday.

Rescue teams started to search for survivors amongst the rubble shortly after the incident in Nairobi's Huruma District.

"We have lost seven people after the house collapsed last night," Nairobi police chief Japheth Koome said. He added that 121 people have been rescued and taken to hospital.

The Kenya Red Cross said only one survivor was rescued from the debris, almost 10 hours after the building collapsed on Friday night.

The organisation, which works along with police and other rescue services, said 150 households had been affected in total.

Two buildings in the densely populated and impoverished Huruma District were evacuated on Saturday due to being unsafe.

Nairobi Deputy Governor Jonathan Mueke visited the site of the incident on Saturday morning and said an investigation would seek an answer as to why the two-year old building collapsed.

"The building went down during the heavy rains, but we still want to establish if all the procedures were followed when it was constructed," he said.

The building collapsed at around 9:30 pm (1830 GMT) on Friday, following the heaviest rainstorms since rainy season started.

Kenya Red Cross spokeswoman Arnolda Shiundu said rainstorms caused flooding and landslides in many areas of Nairobi. She said the site had been "complete chaos" and teams are "still searching."

"We don't know how many people are under the rubble, but we fear there are still several of them," she said.

Early on Friday at least three people died after a wall collapsed due to flooding in another part of Nairobi, according to Kenyan media.

The construction industry in Nairobi has been booming in recent years but the quality of materials used in building and speed of construction is frequently questioned.