Helpless families watched their loved ones die, houses wiped out

Pain, anger and frustration were palpable as residents of Kijiji slum in Lang’ata narrated their ordeal following Sunday night’s inferno that left four people dead.

Property worth millions of shillings was destroyed by the fire.

Tears flowed freely as the survivors narrated how they were rendered helpless in their efforts to put out the raging fire that consumed their property and for some, their loved ones, as they watched and waited for help in vain.

When the Nation team arrived, it found smoke still billowing from what was left of the iron sheet houses, traces of burnt gas cylinders, other household items as well as charred bodies lying around.

Along the only road in the area were electric poles with manual connections hanging dangerously low.

At Ngei Primary School, where the affected families were camping, Ms Elizabeth Wayua held tightly to her three children.

They spent the cold night at the school after the fire burnt all her belongings.

‘EVERYTHING IS GONE’

“The fire caught us unawares. It was raging and what we could only think of was the children. Everything is gone. We have not eaten since Sunday night and we do not know what to do next,” said Ms Wayua, who has lived in the slum for 11 years.

Sitting a few metres away was Ms Eunice Bahati, a mother of two, who also lost everything in the fire. She was reunited with one of her children yesterday morning.

For Ms Julia Wairimu, the pain was evident as she sobbed while recounting how her neighbour died at her shop while trying to escape from the fire.

Ms Rose Awinja, who lives at Otiende estate but has a salon in the area, said she got injured while trying to help a neighbour. She was taken to Lang’ata Hospital, where she received 17 stitches on her injured leg.

“I had saved a two-year-old child who I found there helpless, and also some items from my salon, but I got injured when I kicked an iron sheet door of my neighbour’s salon, whom I was trying to help,” she said.

LEAKING GAS

She said the fire might have been caused by leaking gas in one of the houses.

Mr Leonard Gogo said the fire started minutes before 8pm at a bar in the area before spreading to the other houses. He noted that attempts by residents to put out the fire bore no fruit as they did not have adequate water.

Mr Gogo said the fire engines from Nairobi County arrived late, and they did not have enough water to put out the fire.

He added that they were also hampered by lack of access in the area, where there is only a single entrance and exit, and no hydrant.

“We tried to extinguish the fire but we did not succeed. Attempts by the fire engines also did not succeed as they quickly ran out of water,” he said.

WATCHED HELPLESSLY

Mr Peter Osebe, who has been living in the slum since 1985, narrated how they watched helplessly as the fire gutted their houses, with some managing to only save children and some documents.

“There have been fire incidents here before but not as bad as this. We have not eaten since Sunday and even our children have not gone to school as everything has been burnt,” Mr Osebe said.

He also cited lack of water, poor planning when building the structures and electricity cartels that have mechanically connected residents to power in the area, leading to dangerously hanging poles, as some of the reasons that made putting out the fire, and, rescue efforts, difficult.

SH70 MILLION STATE AID

Meanwhile, Deputy President William Ruto said the government will use Sh70 million to rebuild the burnt houses.

Speaking when he toured the area, Mr Ruto regretted that property worth millions of shillings had been destroyed.  He assured the affected families that the government would help them to rebuild their houses.

The DP, who was accompanied by Lang’ata MP Nixon Korir, said the fire could not be contained because of lack of water and lack of an access road to the affected areas.

He asked the provincial administration and leaders from the area to furnish the government will the genuine list of the people who were affected by the tragedy.

Additional reporting by Agewa Magut