A family is mourning the death of three children after they succumbed to the Mukuru Kwa Njenga fire that razed down houses on the night of Monday, September 16.
The siblings, aged 16, 8, and 4, were caught in the fire when a gas explosion in the area burned down over 100 houses leading to losses valued in the millions.
Kenya Red Cross confirmed the tragic fire incident last night and reported that they had dispatched a team to the scene to help the victims.
“Our team is on the ground, actively engaging in response efforts alongside community-based disaster response teams,” the statement read.
Nairobi Fire Brigade During a Previous Operation on February 2022.
Photo
NMS
A few moments later, the Nairobi Disaster Management team and police officers from the local police station also arrived on the scene to help in the rescue mission.
In videos seen by Kenyans.co.ke, the residents of the Muhindi Mweusi neighbourhood of Mukuru Kwa Njenga are seen helplessly watching the fire reduce their homes to ashes as rescuers from the different agencies try to rescue people still trapped in their houses.
Over 100 houses and property of unknown value was also destroyed in the tragic incident that adds to a list of fires that have ravaged through the nation in the last month.
Mukuru Community Justice Center, a social justice movement in the area, also confirmed the incident adding that it had been a sad week for the Mukuru community as a similar incident had left 4 dead just a few days prior.
“The previous day in Mukuru Viwandani four people died in the same circumstances, it’s a sad week in the entire Mukuru,” the Center shared.
Over the course of this month, a series of school fires have gripped the nation with preliminary investigations in most of the instances like the Njia Boys tragedy showing that the fires are a result of arson.
Having started immediately after the Hillside Academy Endarasha dormitory fire that led to the tragic death of 21 school boys, this could be the trigger that started it all.
However, school fires caused by arson are not something new in Kenya, especially in the lead up to National Examinations. Some have even led to fatalities and convictions of perpetrators like the Moi Girls Nairobi fire of 2017 that left 10 dead.
Embakasi night fire left 24 homes burnt down to ashes, 14 September 2024.
Photo
Kenya Red Cross
