A ordinary Monday lunch break turned into an unimaginable tragedy at Emmanuel New Life Learning Centre in Nairobi’s Kayole area, exposing the deadly consequences of unchecked construction practices in the city. On October 6, 2025, two pupils were killed and two others seriously injured when construction debris from a neighbouring site collapsed onto the school compound.
The incident occurred as the learners were washing their hands at a nearby outlet during their lunch break. Heavy debris, including construction bricks—many of them broken—rained down on them. Images from the scene painted a harrowing picture of the accident, with the young victims surrounded by buildings still under construction.
The two students who lost their lives succumbed to their injuries at the scene. The other two injured pupils were rushed to Uwezo Clinic for emergency treatment before being referred to Mama Lucy Hospital for further care. It is believed that the fallen bricks caused the fatal injuries.
This tragic event casts a stark light on a problem Nairobi authorities have been grappling with. In a prescient move just months earlier, in July 2025, the Nairobi County Assembly enacted the Nairobi City County Regularisation of Unauthorised Developments Act. This legislation was specifically designed to deal with the proliferation of buildings constructed without proper approval.
According to Chief Officer for Urban Development and Planning, Patrick Analo, the initiative aims to grant approvals to buildings erected without permits, but only if they meet minimum planning and safety standards. For those who fail to adhere, the Act stipulates strict enforcement under the Physical and Land Use Planning Act, 2019, including the issuance of notices to stop construction or use of the property.
The fatal collapse in Kayole raises urgent questions about the effectiveness of these measures and the safety standards at the countless construction sites dotting the city’s landscape. Authorities have since launched an investigation to determine whether the site neighbouring the school met regulatory standards, a question the community is now asking with a profound sense of loss.
As families mourn and a school community seeks to heal, the broken bricks in the Kayole schoolyard stand as a grim monument to a systemic failure, demanding answers and accountability to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.
