NAIROBI, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan authorities on Saturday continued to search for seven people still missing after a multi-story building collapsed in a suburb of Nairobi on Friday.
"Search and rescue operations are ongoing at the site of the building collapse in Eastleigh. Two injured people have been taken to Kenyatta National Hospital," the Kenya Red Cross Society said in an update issued late Friday.
Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen, cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, said Friday night that 11 shops on the building's ground floor and in the basement were occupied at the time of the collapse.
"Seven people have been reported missing. The rescue team has made contact with some of them, and efforts are underway to rescue those trapped in the rubble," he said.
All 67 construction workers at the site have been accounted for, Murkomen said, adding that 66 escaped unhurt, while one was hospitalized and is in stable condition.
The seven missing people are believed to have been inside the shops when the building collapsed, he said.
Authorities have yet to determine whether the collapse damaged or compromised the structural integrity of adjacent buildings.
Investigations are underway to establish whether any regulatory or professional violations contributed to the collapse, and local authorities have launched a manhunt for the building's owner. The National Construction Authority said it has identified the developer, contractor and registered professionals associated with the building.
"Details regarding rescue operations, the status of the site, and actions being undertaken by the multi-agency team will be shared in due course," the regulatory body said.
Building collapses have occurred repeatedly in Kenya in recent years, with experts blaming weak enforcement of construction regulations and a lack of routine safety inspections by government officials as among the causes. ■