Two people have been confirmed dead after a building collapsed in the Ruiru Bypass area along Thika Road in Kiambu County on Wednesday, May 18.

Several others are still trapped inside the rubble of the building, most of whom are reported to have been at the site collecting scrap metal according to eyewitness accounts.

The building had been earmarked for demolition by the Kenyan National Highway Authority (KeNHA) to pave the way for the Eastern By-pass expansion into a dual carriageway.

Rescue teams drawn from the county fire department, the Kenya Army, and the National Youth Service from Kiambu County rushed to the scene to help retrieve those trapped.

Police officers also barricaded the site as well to keep the area off the public.

The incident was reported just two months after a four-storey building under construction in Regen area within Kikuyu constituency in Kiambu County collapsed.

The building also leaned onto another high-rise affecting tenants.

Kiambu County Lands and Physical Planning County Executive Eunice Macharia stated that as per the preliminary report, it is evident that the foundations of the collapsed building greatly failed, causing the building to topple on one side.