Friday, March 23, 2012

3 die as fire ravages Mathare slum


NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 23 – Two children and an elderly man have been killed after a fire swept through several homes in Mathare Area 10 in the early hours of Friday morning, according to witnesses and the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS).
Several residents who were injured while fleeing for safety were attended to by the KRCS team on site.
The cause of the fire was yet to be determined.
Reports said 300 shanties were destroyed in the inferno.
The fire which started just after midnight and was put out just before dawn sparked riots in the area because of lack of access roads that hampered the fire brigade from containing it.
The unrest started as residents were forced to use buckets to put out the blaze.
Police who arrived at the scene tried to calm tensions, amid reports that Juja Road was closed on Friday morning by the angry slum dwellers.
Nairobi Provincial Police boss Anthony Kibuchi told Capital FM News that property worth tens of thousands of shillings was destroyed in the fire.

No comments:

Post a Comment