At least five people were Monday morning killed in a fire incident in Mathare slums, Nairobi.
Police and locals said four
other people are nursing serious wounds following the fire incident in Mathare
B.
Dozens of other people were
left homeless in the incident that broke out at about 2 am on May 19.
It took the arrival of fire engines from the
military and the Nairobi County Government to contain the spread of the fire.
Nairobi police boss George Sedah said at least
eight houses were flattened by the fire.
He said the fire broke out from one of the iron
sheet structures before it spread fast to the others.
“We understand the victims were sleeping when
the fire broke out, killing five of them. Four others are in the hospital with
serious injuries,” he said.
He said two churches that were near the houses
were also burned down.
The victims include three adults and two
children, police said.
The injured were rushed to the local MSF
hospital.
Smoke was still pillowing from the scene on
Monday morning as some families planned to rebuild the flattened structures.
The bodies were moved to the mortuary pending
autopsy and other investigations, police said.
This is the latest such incident to happen in an informal settlement area amid calls for the construction and expansion of access
roads to the areas.
Firefighters blame a lack of proper access roads
for the deaths and destruction whenever infernos break out.
Police are investigating the cause of the fire.
Meanwhile, four people who drowned
in separate incidents were reported.
The first incident happened in
Yatta, Machakos County, where a ten-year-old boy drowned in a dam.
Police said the incident
happened in Kinyaatta location and that the boy drowned as he and his friends
swam there.
In Awendo’s Kanyasrega
sub-location, Migori County, a boy aged one drowned in a well in their compound
in a tragedy.
Police suspect the boy was left
unattended when he drowned in the water.
The body was retrieved and
taken to a local mortuary pending autopsy and investigations.
In the Oruba area, Migori County, the body of a 25-year-old man was found on the banks of the River Migori.
Police
officers rushed to the scene and confirmed the same, adding that the body had visible
bruises on the back.
Assorted clothes, a soap, a toothbrush, slippers, sewing thread, body lotion and a national identity card
bearing the name of a woman were recovered from the scene.
The body was retrieved with the
help of members of the public and taken to Migori County Referral Hospital mortuary,
awaiting autopsy and identification.
In the Sipili area, Laikipia
County, a one-year-old boy who had been missing was found dead in a well near his
home.
The boy is suspected to have
wandered to the well and drowned.
The body was moved to the mortuary pending identification and autopsy.
