Meet the two street boys whose heroic efforts saved lives during Gikomba fire

A huge fire destroyed merchandise and property worth millions of shillings at Gikomba Market on Thursday morning and 15 lives were lost but it could have been worse were it not for the heroic efforts of Tyson Maina and Joseph Muge.

The two street children, who often operate around the market, were among volunteers who put their lives at risk to rescue several people trapped in buildings after the fire broke out.

Maina revealed that he was woken up by a loud blast and immediately sprang into action, warning residents of the impending danger.

“I was woken up by a blast that was followed by a series of sparking on power cables near the market.

“We started shouting to warn people who were sleeping in the flats, but our efforts to save them were thwarted by security guards, who locked the gates to the apartment blocks fearing that looters would invade them,” he was quoted by the Daily Nation.

Muge, on the other hand, went to draw water from the nearby river to put out the fire but he claimed that police blocked their efforts although they later sneaked their way in.

“We forced our way into a nearby building to rescue those who were trapped. There were bodies along the staircases in one of the buildings.

“I counted more than ten bodies,” he divulged.

Muge, however, lamented that some of his colleagues may have perished in the fire since there was a lot of smoke and they could barely see.

Beth Njambi, an eyewitness, also confirmed that the street children were the first responders to the fire tragedy, way before the Red Cross team had arrived.