Huge fire razes down 200 houses in Mathare

About 200 families spent the night in the cold after a huge fire destroyed a section of Mathare slums, in Nairobi.

According to St John Ambulance Communications Manager Fred Majiwa, at least 30 people sustained minor injuries while trying to salvage their property and were treated at the scene by medical teams from St John Ambulance, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS).

The cause of the 8pm fire is still unknown, and the situation was made worse by the absence of fire engines from Nairobi County and the National Youth Service (NYS).

KK security fire engines, which had gone to the rescue, were repulsed by rowdy youth, who threatened to burn the engines for arriving late at the scene.

The inferno was however contained at about 11pm with no fatality reported.

There have been several incidents of fire in the slums.

In February this year, property of unknown value was destroyed by a fierce fire at Olympic area in Kibra.

The fire that is said to have been caused by an electrical fault in one of the business stalls was fuelled by a gas cylinder that exploded after catching fire.

The fire fighters managed to contain the fire with no casualties being reported.

Cases of fire breakout in kibra have been on the rise for the last three years. The most common cause of these breakouts has been poor connection of electricity and stoves left unattended to.

In May 2013 an inferno at Laini Saba claimed the lives of seven members of a family and resulted in several people being injured. The fire razed down about 72 houses and destroyed property of an unknown value.