NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Many people were feared trapped as a tall building collapsed Friday in Kenya’s capital, leaving a huge mound of concrete and more than a dozen floors stacked like pancakes, with little space between them.
The building was under construction when it collapsed at about 1 p.m. along a busy commercial street in Nairobi's Eastleigh area, which is often crowded with thousands of traders and residents.
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Security forces and civil defense work after a multi-story building collapsed in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
People watch from behind a security cordon after a multi-story building collapsed in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Security forces and civil defense work after a multi-story building collapsed in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
People watch from behind a security cordon after a multi-story building collapsed in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Security forces and civil defense work after a multi-story building collapsed in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Nairobi police chief Issa Mohamud said the building had more than 10 upper floors under construction. Rescue operations were complicated, with police firing tear gas at people who had begun looting neighboring shops, as officers sought to clear the area and provide access to emergency response teams.
Joseph Kaula made it out just in time. A plasterer working on the fifth floor, he said he heard screams and spotted other workers rushing outside, shouting that the building was collapsing.
“I was the last person to walk out before it collapsed and the whole area was filled with dust,” Kaula said.
Kaula suspects a few of his colleagues were trapped in the basement.
One injured woman was rescued and hospitalized, and another person who was crying for help had gone silent, the police chief said.
Mohamud also warned of a possible secondary collapse, as the collapsed building was leaning on its neighbor.
There was little in the way of heavy equipment immediately available. Hours later, a group of rescuers in hard hats were using poles stripped from trees to poke at the huge pile of rubble. One excavator began to move concrete bound with steel away. By evening, at least two more back shovels arrived.
Rescuers were hoping to reach into any spaces left in the basement and the ground level, which had been rented out for an electronics shop, a butchery and a grocery while construction continued on the upper floors.
Residents said some of their loved ones who were trapped had made phone calls calling for help immediately after the collapse, but that their phones later became unreachable. A tent was set up where people could report the missing. How many might be inside the wreckage wasn't known.
Building collapses are a recurring problem in Nairobi. County officials responsible for issuing building permits have been accused of failing to conduct adequate inspections to ensure developers comply with safety guidelines and construction standards.
“Investigations will be carried out,” Mohamud said. “We’ll make sure people face the law for any negligence.”
Nairobi Gov. Johnson Sakaja said the building had been approved for construction, but did not have a certificate of occupation, so opening shops on the ground floor was against the law. Kenya's county governments need stronger enforcement powers, he said, arguing that lenient penalties for non-compliance are just a “slap on the wrist” for developers that violate regulations.
Security forces and civil defense work after a multi-story building collapsed in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
People watch from behind a security cordon after a multi-story building collapsed in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Security forces and civil defense work after a multi-story building collapsed in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
People watch from behind a security cordon after a multi-story building collapsed in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Security forces and civil defense work after a multi-story building collapsed in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
A first tanker carrying Russian diesel to the United States under a new import agreement has set sail, the Kremlin said Friday, two weeks after President Donald Trump said he struck a deal with President Vladimir Putin despite Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
“The first oil tanker has sailed off to customers, and regular supplies will continue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said without elaborating.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said earlier this week that the first shipment would amount to 40,000 tons of diesel, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Marine intelligence firm Kpler said the vessel was signaling it was headed to New York to arrive Nov. 7 and would be the first Russian diesel delivery to the United States since July 2023.
The abrupt reversal of U.S. sanctions policy on Russia over its invasion of its neighbor was seen as an attempt by Trump to address high fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections.
The diesel shipment of 40,000 tons amounts to around 300,000 barrels, or about 7% of the roughly 4 million barrels of diesel the U.S. economy consumes in a single day.
The import agreement, which Trump says foresees millions more tons of Russian diesel reaching the U.S. in coming months, is unlikely to make a dent in painfully high prices at the pump or elsewhere, energy policy experts say.
Russia’s diesel production has come under strain from repeated Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on its oil refineries. The attacks caused fuel shortages, which now have eased. Trump last month asked Kyiv to stop the attacks.
The U.S. diesel decision caused alarm and dismay in Ukraine, which has pleaded with foreign countries to tighten sanctions on Moscow and deny it revenue for its invasion launched in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Trump’s decision “a weak decision by strong partners.”
The diesel agreement was a sudden policy reversal, coming just weeks after Trump signed into law a sweeping sanctions package that directed him to impose up to 100% tariffs on the top five importers of Russian oil or natural gas. He later put the measures on hold.
The development is the latest twist in the at times volatile relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy, which in recent weeks has reached a new low.
Zelenskyy said he spoke Friday with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, after they consulted with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. They also spoke with the Ukrainian leader earlier this week in Norway.
Kyiv is keen to add momentum to peace efforts in a planned three-way meeting between Ukraine, Russia and the United States that may take place next month at a venue to be decided, Zelenskyy said in comments via video link to the Hudson Institute research organization in Washington.
"We need diplomacy to move forward,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine's pressing issues are protecting its power grid from Russian attacks ahead of winter, getting more U.S.-made Patriot air defense interceptors to counter Russia's ballistic missiles, and finding more financial support from foreign countries, Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine is still experiencing Starlink and Starshield speed limits that are choking its drone operations, Zelenskyy said. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week that the service would be fully restored within 72 hours, according to the Ukrainian leader.
Meanwhile, Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said Friday afternoon that all four Moscow airports — Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky — stopped flights arriving and departing for security reasons. The disruption continued through the afternoon.
At Sheremetyevo airport, passengers were told to take shelter, Russian news agency Interfax reported. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that air defenses downed 21 Ukrainian drones targeting the Russian capital.
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war for the first time since August.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said each side released 270 prisoners. Ukraine said 270 of its soldiers and civilians were freed, most of them held in captivity since 2022.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
People pass by a fragment of a Russian jet drone after a Russian air attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Rescuers work on the roof of the damaged building following Russia's air attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
In this image taken from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Russian servicemen sit in a bus after returning from captivity during a POW exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Belarus, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy answers media questions before his meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday Oct. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
