Traders count losses as fire guts Ebrahim Shopping Mall

Gutted Ebrahim Shopping Mall in Nairobi's CBD. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Traders lost goods worth millions of shillings after a fire destroyed Ebrahim Shopping Mall in Nairobi.

Witnesses said the fire which is suspected to have been caused by an electric fault started at around 2 am on Saturday.

Sylvester Mutisya, who works at an electronic shop said he got a call at 2:30pm that the building was on fire.

A fire engine outside Ebrahim Shopping Mall, Nairobi. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

"We have lost electronic goods worth over Sh3.5 million because there were a lot of speakers and studio equipment," he said.

Mutisya appealed to the landlord to collaborate with Kenya Power and see how traders will be compensated.

City County Chief Officer, Disaster Management Bramuel Simiyu said the fire brigade team managed to contain the fire.

Firefighters responding to the fire at Ebrahim Shopping Mall, Nairobi. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Simiyu regretted that all of the stalls were destroyed since the building hosted shops with inflammable goods.

"We are carrying out investigations to establish the cause of the fire and we hope to have a report in the next one or two days," he said.

"We can't for now rule out power fault given the ongoing rains but we shall know that once investigations are complete," he added.

Ebrahim Shopping Mall, Nairobi. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Nairobi Central sub-county Deputy Criminal Investigation Officer Tiberius Ekisa, said they have launched investigations to establish the cause of the fire.