Two Dead, Several Injured as Fire Burns Down Over 200 Houses in Nairobi

At least two people have been confirmed dead, while several others are nursing injuries following a fire incident in the Sinai area of Mukuru kwa Reuben in Nairobi County.
Reports indicate that the fire broke out on Thursday morning in one house before it quickly spread to other houses, leaving over 200 families stranded and homeless.
According to the witnesses, thefire began while most of the residents were asleep.However, attempts by the locals to put out the fire proved futile as it spread to other buildings.
While lamenting over the incident, the residents criticised the Nairobi County Government disaster management team for reportedly arriving late.
“The firefighters arrived too late, but their vehicle had no water they went back without putting out the flames. We want to tell Governor Johnson Sakaja to get serious in such situations,” said one of the residents.
“The roads here are inaccessible; had the roads been accessible, then the fire could have been contained early before it spread widely,” the resident added.
While the exact cause of the fire is yet to be established, the police have since launched investigations into the incident, with those injured currently recuperating in various hospitals within Nairobi.
However, such fires are not new in Nairobi’s Eastland Estates, particularly in the densely populated slums. Just a month ago, several houses were destroyed by fire in the Tassia Estate in Embakasi.
The fire broke out on August 26 inone of the informal housing units in the estate before spreading to other houses. Preliminary reports suggested that thefire stemmed from a gas explosion.
The situation was worsened by the fact that most of the structures that caught fire were made of a combination of iron sheets and wood, which are highly flammable.
As the fire intensified, the locals attempted to put out the fire amid a fairly slow response from the fire department, presumably because the inferno took place at night.
Nonetheless, no deaths or injuries were reported from the incident, with the County Government and the Kenya Red Cross Society intervening to provide alternative shelter for those affected.