KENYA: At least 22 people dead and dozens missing after fire destroys supermarket in downtown Nairobi

Record ID: 361828

  • Title: KENYA: At least 22 people dead and dozens missing after fire destroys supermarket in downtown Nairobi
  • Date: 30th January 2009
  • Summary: SHELL OF BURNT-OUT BUILDING CHARRED BODIES UNDER DEBRIS MARKED WITH RED FLAGS MORE OF RECOVERY SITUATION MORE OF CHARRED BODIES
  • Embargoed: 14th February 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVACGQ2WKKI75NZCG3SLIU0PLGML
  • Story Text: At least 22 people die and dozens are still missing after a fire destroys a supermarket in downtown Nairobi.
    Firefighters were sifting through the wreckage of a popular supermarket in central Nairobi on Friday (January 30) after a fire that killed at least 22 people on Wednesday (January 28).
    One of the victims was a man who died from injuries sustained leaping from the burning Nakumatt store, the east African nation's leading supermarket chain.
    Rescuers were delayed from properly entering the gutted and still-smouldering building until Friday morning for fear the structure would collapse.
    The Red Cross said 47 people were reported missing after the fire, including the confirmed dead.
    Charred bodies were recovered from the smouldering building on Friday and taken to a city morgue where DNA tests were to be carried out to help identify the remains.
    Forensic police and firemen picked their way carefully through the gutted, smouldering debris, placing small red flags on what they thought were human remains.
    "We are continuing with the identification process and we shall be trying to get as much information as possible about these bodies so that the family and friends of the deceased will be able to identify," said Police spokesman Erick Kiraithe at the scene.
    Several people leapt from the building while it blazed for hours, witnesses said. Some spoke of people trapped and screaming behind locked doors.
    Nakumatt managers have denied any doors were locked at the time of the blaze.. A company statement said the store "was fully fire safety compliant and had been installed with advanced fire/smoke detectors."
    Media berated the emergency response as slow and inadequate.
    "A city like Nairobi with an estimated population of three million is served by one fire station situated close to the central business district where vehicular and pedestrian congestion is particularly heavy," the Daily Nation newspaper reported.
    "It is fair to say that ours is a modern city with an 18th century fire-fighting infrastructure."
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