NAIROBI (Reuters) -Many people may be trapped under the rubble of a building which collapsed as it was being demolished in the Mathare neighbourhood of Kenya's capital on Tuesday, the Kenya Red Cross said.

In the east of Nairobi, Mathare is home to several hundred thousand people and one of the city's largest informal settlements, where planning regulations are poorly enforced.

"There are fears that multiple individuals may be trapped beneath the rubble. Our rescue team has been dispatched," the Red Cross wrote on social media platform X.

Mathare was inundated with floodwater this month when the Mathare River, which runs through it, burst its banks after heavy rains, killing dozens and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes.

(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Writing by Hereward Holland;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Ed Osmond)