Traders count huge losses in Gikomba market fire

By Ally Jamah

It is was a day of mourning for hundreds of traders at Nairobi’s Gikomba market after a fire swept through their stalls.

The traders spent the afternoon fruitlessly battling the flames, with the help of fire fighters from KK Security and the City Council of Nairobi.

In Nairobi’s Gikomba Market you can buy anything from used clothes to sofa-sets. But on Wednesday when fire broke out, the traders threw whatever they could salvage into this dirty stream if only to save a little for tomorrow. Later, as firefighters navigated the mess, they stood by and watched. [PHOTO: BONIFACE OKENDO/ STANDARD]

Some were seen attacking the fire with water drawn from the Nairobi River in buckets, under huge black fumes of smoke. The fire began at 2pm, Wednesday. The stalls were built right on the banks of the river in what appears to be an illegal encroachment into the banks. The fire spread through iron sheet stalls, burning timber, beds and mattresses.

"Everything I had is now useless rubble. I have to start all over again," said a trader at the scene.

out of water

Fire engines from the council ran out of water several times and had to rush back to town to fill up, to the chagrin of hundreds of onlookers.

But KK Security fire fighters put their council colleagues to shame when they began pumping water from Nairobi River to calm the fire.

Nairobi Provincial Commissioner Njoroge Ndirangu, who visited the scene, said the City Council fire fighters should have responded faster to save the situation.

There were moments of panic as electricity wires came tumbling down, setting off big explosions and sending the crowd to scamper for safety. A source at Kenya Power and Lighting Company blamed the fire on illegal connections to the grids.

Central OCPD Paul Kariuki confirmed no life was lost and promised to probe the incident.

Related Topics

Gikomba fire