Traders count losses as fire guts Gikomba market
What you need to know:
- The fire is reported to have started at about 2am, and was still on until 7am as various emergency response teams battled to contain the inferno.
Several traders are counting losses after a fire razed down stalls in Gikomba market early Wednesday morning.
The fire is reported to have started at about 2am, and was still raging at 7am as various emergency response teams battled to contain it.
Teams from the Kenya Police, General Service Unit, Kenya Red Cross, Fire brigade among others were on the ground to put out the fire as hundreds of traders watched from a distance with dozens of police officers deployed blocking entry to the burning section.
The extent of damage caused by the fire in Gikomba market has not yet been established. Some traders told Nation they lost goods worth millions in the fire that gutted section of the market on November 7, 2018. PHOTO | PETER MBURU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Ms Joan Njeri, a trader at the market, said many of the traders were in shock since the fire caught them by surprise.
The cause of the fire that gutted a section of Gikomba market, Area 42, on November 7, 2018 has not yet been established. PHOTO | PETER MBURU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
"We do not know the state of our businesses since we have not been allowed access by the officers manning," she said.
Firefighters stand on a smouldering heap of corrugated iron sheets and traders' stock on November 7, 2018 as battle blaze that gutted a section of the Gikomba market. PHOTO | PETER MBURU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Traders in parts of the market that were not affected resumed business as usual and had high praise for the emergency responders, saying the fire engines arrived shortly after inferno was reported.
The firefighters collaborated with local youth to contain the blaze.
In June this year, at least 16 people were killed and more than 60 injured when another fire gutted a section of the market.
In 2017, traders lost property valued at about Sh15 million when another huge fire destroyed a section of the market.
