Kenya flooding: At least 12 dead and dozens feared trapped as building collapses

President Uhuru Kenyatta orders the arrest of the building's owner amid frantic search for survivors still trapped in the rubble

Kenyan National Youth Service personnel remove stones with hands at the site of a building collapse in Nairobi (AP)

At least 12 people have died after a six-storey building collapsed in the Kenyan capital Nairobi following days of torrential rain and flooding.

Rescuers at the city’s Huruma residential estate pulled out 128 people after the collapse on Friday night, according to the Kenya Police, but dozens more were feared trapped under the rubble.

President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the arrest of the building's owner. He told Kenyan broadcaster NTV: “If we use heavy machines the rubble might crumble, so we must be very careful."

Mr Kenyatta said survivors would be given temporary shelter at the nearby Daima primary school, adding: “We will be supporting the victims, and we are registering them and giving social support, as some are traumatised.”

Venant Ndigila, a spokesman for the Red Cross, said the charity is working frantically on the rescue operation. He added: "We can still hear voices of people who are still inside."

Charles Owino, a spokesman for the police, said in a statement: "It's an old building ... we don't how how much the heavy rains could have caused the building to fall. There could be other technical reasons."

Steven Oundo, the chair of Kenya's National Construction Authority, said there would be an investigation into whether the building had a certificate allowing people to live inside. A survey carried out last year found that more than half the buildings in the capital were unfit for habitation.

Heavy rainfall was set to continue over the next week in Nairobi, the Kenya Meteorological Department said, adding that there was also a risk of lightning strikes.

Mr Kenyatta last year ordered an audit of all the buildings in the country after a spate of collapses.

Police said at least 14 people have died as a result of the Nairobi rains, including those in the collapse.

In other separate incidents, two people drowned when their vehicle was swept away by storm waters in the capital's industrial area, another person died in floods, and four were killed when a wall collapsed.

The rainfall has caused landslides, washed away houses and flooded roads. More than 1,000 homes have been “displaced” by the flooding, according to Kenya's Red Cross.

In 2015, a seven-storey building collapsed in the same district.