15 people feared dead and 60 others sustain serious burn injuries after fire raze Gikomba market in Nairobi.
According to St. John’s Ambulance, those injured were rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital.
“Property worth millions have been destroyed after a fire outbreak at Nairobi’s Gikomba market occurred at around 2AM,” the agency added.
Firefighters are still battling with the inferno that had earlier been reported by Kenya Red Cross to have been put out.
Gikomba Market which is located in Majengo area is popular for its traders who sell second-hand clothes.
This is not the first time that the market stalls have been razed to the ground and the frequent occurrence of such incidents has raised eyebrows from various quarters with it being labeled the “annual Gikomba Market Fire Festival”.
The incident left many traders with losses after a section that deals in timber and second hand clothes near Kamkunji area was gutted. St Johns Ambulance said it had by 7 am evacuated up to 40 people from the scene.
Two years ago, after a similar inferno destroyed property worth millions, Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan alleged that the incidents were an attempt to edge out traders from the land.
“I think it is not purely accidental. We have too many fires here. There are people responsible for them and we must find out who they are and bring them to book,” he told journalists.
A year later, another fire broke out and this time round President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered that investigations be carried out to establish the cause.
He waded into the raging debate over Gikomba Market fire after two incidents occurred within a month of each other.
Police are yet to establish the actual cause of the fire.
More to follow…
