Fire guts coffin kiosks in Kisii, traders lose 'millions'
Smoke billows from the kiosks that were reduced to ashes in Kisii town on March 31, 2018. PHOTO | RUTH MBULA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Traders in Kisii town are counting losses after fire gutted their kiosks on Saturday morning.
The traders, who work near Kisii central SDA Church, are mostly coffin makers.
'MILLIONS'
They said they lost millions of shillings in the inferno whose cause police are investigating.
Ms Christine Kwamboka said she received a call around 6am informing her that her furniture was alight.
"It is a sad morning. I do not know what to do next," she told the Nation.
Kisii Central Seventh Day Adventist Church pastor's office was also partially destroyed.
Some residents said they suspected arson and linked the fire to a Friday incident where Suneka residents torched three houses belonging to suspected kidnappers.
The arsonists, they claimed, suspect some of the kiosks are owned by the suspects who are accused of kidnapping Pastor Esther Bochaberi.
She has been missing for the last three weeks.
Only a few items were salvaged from the morning inferno after the county disaster management team delayed to get to the ground.
Residents used buckets and pails to put out the flames.
Kisii County police commander Abdi Hassan said nobody was injured in the incident.
"We are investigating the cause of the fire and if indeed it was arson," he said.
