By Paul Gitau
Over 200 private villas worth billions of shillings were destroyed in Malindi following a fierce fire on Sunday.
Although no one was injured, nothing was salvaged during the 1.30 pm inferno that also gutted down more than 50 luxury vehicles at the Oasis area of Malindi town, 120 kilometers north east of Mombasa.
Malindi Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) Peter Kattam said the fire started at Lion Villas and quickly spread to the luxurious Palm Tree Hotel and Kibokoni villas.
Some of the villas and cottages that were gutted down at Kibokoni, Malindi, yesterday. READ MOREKenyan hotels to be classified after 10-year wait Hoteliers hail campaign to eradicate invasive birds at Coast 5 killed in helicopter crash on Tanzania's Mt Kilimanjaro Why Lazizi Mara opposed the withdrawal of Ritz-Carlton Mara case withdrawal |
"The vehicles belonged to foreign tourists who had locked them in the villas," Kattam added.
Police, members of the public and Malindi fire brigade had a rough time trying to put off the fire that was fanned by the strong winds from the Indian Ocean.
Kattam said they were yet to establish the cause of the fire.
A hotelier David Muiruri, whose property was destroyed blamed the Malindi fire fighting unit for their slow response to fire outbreaks in the tourist resort.
"The response by fire fighters has always been late resulting to huge losses by hoteliers," Muiruri said, and further appealed to the Government to provide a new firefighting engine for the town as the current one broke down frequently.
protested bitterly Italian investors who own most of the villas in Malindi protested bitterly on Sunday claiming frequent fire outbreaks had destroyed their properties worth billions of shillings.
Led by the Italian consular in Malindi Roberto Macri, they appealed to the Government to invest in modern fire fighting equipment in the town. Fire spreads so fast at villas in the town because the roofs of most villas are thatched with dry coconut leaves.
"The hotel fire accidents are too many in Malindi. We are not ready to continue losing property worth millions of shillings in fires which can be contained with modern equipment," Marci said.
The General Manager of Palm Tree Club Hotel Lydia Filini with police officers in Malindi. Photo: Paul Gitau /Standard |
This year alone, fires have broken out at Watatu Beach Hotel, La Papaya Hotel, Kivulini Hotel in Malindi and Karibuni villas in Mambrui.
Left homeless
Meanwhile, two people were injured and more than 300 left homeless in a fire incident in Mukuru slums in Nairobi.
The fire was started in one of the structures before spreading to others, witnesses said.
Police said the scores were injured as they fought to contain the inferno that reduced more than 70 structures to ashes.
Embakasi OCPD Rono Bunei said the fire that broke out in the morning started in one house and spread fast to others.
It took firefighters over an hour to contain the fire. Those injured were immediately rushed to hospital as the other villagers fought to contain the raging inferno.
Locals said poor access contributed to the delay by the fire brigade in accessing the houses to stop the inferno from spreading.
—Additional reporting by Cyrus Ombati
