Nairobi66 of 67 builders escaped, but 7 people remain missing.
Shops traded on the ground floor without an occupation certificate, Governor Johnson Sakaja said.
The ground floor gave way first and the floors above stacked on it, with little space between them.
Kenya’s National Building Inspectorate found 87% of buildings audited last year failed standards or lacked approvals.
Police chief Issa Mohamud warned of a second collapse, since the building leans on its neighbour.
How each outlet framed it
drawn from 150+ reports worldwide
- BBC leans critical
- notes the building's looser construction standards and that 11 shops had already opened on lower floors
- NDTV
- describes plasterer Joseph Kaula's escape and the police tear gas used against looters
- Al Jazeera Online leans critical
- reports the building had no occupation certificate though its ground floor was in use, and that developers are being asked to answer
- Vanguard
- relays Red Cross dispatch and the Somali-hub Eastleigh setting, framing Nairobi's construction boom as the backdrop
Sources: BBC, NDTV, Al Jazeera Online, Vanguard