At Least 15 Dead, 70 Injured After Fire Razes Kenya Capital Market

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A general view shows the smouldering debris following a fire that gutted the timber dealership at the Gikomba market and nearby homes in central Nairobi on June 28, 2018. PHOTO: SIMON MAINA/AFP
A fire at Nairobi’s Gikomba market on Thursday killed 15 people, less than a year after a blaze destroyed much of the Kenyan capital’s largest open-air market.
“We have lost 15 people from this tragedy this morning.
“We’re yet to establish the cause of this fire,” he said, which is believed to have started in a timber yard,” said a government official who is the regional coordinator Kangethe Thuku.
The pre-dawn blaze left over 70 people injured and destroyed many of the market’s wood and tarp stalls where second-hand clothes, shoes and vegetables are sold on the eastern side of the city.
A police officer at the scene said emergency services continued to search the area.
“We are still trying to get to some corner [of the market] which has heavy smoke, because part of the area has not been accessed due to live electric wires,” the officer said.
AFP

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