Women and children among missing after Kenya supermarket fire
At least 15 people have died and dozens remain missing after a major blaze destroyed a supermarket in the Kenyan capital.
People fled the Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi after a loud explosion mid-afternoon on Wednesday, when it was packed with shoppers and the streets nearby were bustling with people. Only now have rescuers been able to search the gutted, still-smouldering building in the centre of Nairobifs business district, because there were fears that it would collapse in the hours after the blaze.
Based on people arriving at the scene to find out about relatives, customers, mostly women and children make up the majority of the 40 people still unaccounted for, say aid workers."We have recovered 14 bodies. They are charred beyond recognition," Joseph Kingfori, of the government's disaster operation centre told Sky news channel.One man died on Wednesday afternoon when he leaped from a top floor.
A spokeswoman for the Nakumatt, Kenyafs leading supermarket said at least five of the 103 members of staff had not been accounted for. In a statement, Nakumatt said its supermarket had been in compliance with safety regulations. "We also wish to confirm that the building was fully fire safety compliant and had been installed with advanced fire/smoke detectors," it said.
People said they had received desperate calls from relatives saying they were trapped inside and couldnft escape. Simon Odera, a University of Nairobi employee, told the Daily Nation newspaper he received a call from his sister Janet, 40, who said she was caught in the burning shop."She called me and my brother Charles to say she was trapped in the fire and choking. She said they were dying and asked us to pray for her," he said. "I called her a second time as I ran from the university to the supermarket, but by the time I got to the building it was too late. We can't reach her on her mobile phone."
It is still not known what started the fire.
Despite setbacks in recent years, the east African nation is one of the most stable in Africa in political terms, but rapid population growth and the wealth divide have worsened social problems.
Kenya has made real efforts to improve health care and the educational system. Education is compulsory between the ages of six and fourteen, but diseases such as malaria and sleeping sickness are still prevalent and like many countries in southern and eastern Africa, Kenya has been hit hard by HIV/AIDS.
SOS Children has four bases in Kenya, one on the outskirts of Nairobi and others in Mombasa, Eldoret, Kenya's fifth largest town about 380 kms west of Nairobi near the Ugandan border and Meru.
By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children
Share: