Several traders are counting losses after their shops were razed at Embakasi shopping centre in Nairobi on Saturday.
Twenty shops belonging to the businessmen were gutted in the inferno that struck the centre in Embakasi East subcounty at around 8.30am.
Embakasi subcounty police commander Francis Ngugi said the cause of the fire, which razed the Mabati structures, was not immediately established.
The approximate value of property lost during the incident was also not immediately established, according to the police boss.
Ngugi said there were neither injuries nor deaths reported.
“We have launched investigations into the incident that occurred on Saturday morning at around 8.30am. Around 20 premises were razed, but the fire engine from Nairobi City County Government responded on time preventing it from spreading to the other structures,” Ngugi told the Star on Sunday.
But, according to multiple sources, the fire might have been caused by an electric fault. They claimed it started from a power supply metre box.
Annie Kivuva said the traders incurred huge losses.
The shops included those dealing in electrical equipment, electronics, cereals, general food items, posho mill, and boutique among others.
“We are calling on the government to intervene into the traders’ plight following the loss incurred since majority depend on the lost businesses to earn livelihoods. They salvaged nothing from the inferno,” Kivuva said.
Ngugi called on tolerance while investigations are ongoing.
He asked residents and traders to be more careful while undertaking their businesses to avoid recurrence of such incidents.
The police boss assured those residing in Embakasi and its neighborhoods enhanced security especially during the Christmas festive season.