Fire razes property worth millions in Gikomba fire

A fire broke out at Nairobi’s Gikomba Market on Wednesday afternoon destroying property worth millions of shillings. It was not clear what started the blaze.

The fire that raged for three-hours was fought by city council firefighters but their work was hampered by inaccessibility in the overcrowded market.

Nairobi Provincial Commissioner Njoroge Ndirangu decried the difficulty of fighting disasters in some parts of the city.

He added that despite the speedy response by firefighters they were still faced with difficulties of accessing water.

The light industry area houses more than 200 shops that include workshops, hardware stores, furniture and clothes shops.

An estimated 50,000 people draw their source of income from the market which deals with second hand goods.

Witnesses said the fire may have been caused by an electric fault before bringing down electric poles that helped to fuel the flames.

Police had a hard time controlling the crowd that had gathered at the scene.

Last year, another fire destroyed goods worth thousands of shillings when the stores caught fire in the night.