Nairobi building collapse: 50 injured, unknown number of dead

A building collapsed in central Nairobi Monday while more than 200 people were inside, witnesses said. More than 50 seriously injured people were rushed to hospitals, medics said. Dozens of rescuers dug into the rubble with their bare hands while the injured were loaded into any available car to be taken to area hospitals. One survivor was pulled from the building more than an hour after the collapse.

A nurse at Kenyatta General Hospital said more than 50 people had been admitted and more were coming every minute. She said the hospital was filling up before she hung up the phone without identifying herself.

There was no immediate indication of a possible death toll, though witnesses at the scene said they feared many people were still under the rubble.

The lower floors of the five-story building were filled with construction workers. Work had been under way to add additional upper floors when it collapsed, said 26-year-old Patrick Opiyo while he was digging for survivors. Parts of the exterior walls were still standing, presenting a hazard to rescuers, reports the AP. N.U.