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Two dead as fire razes Nairobi’s Gikomba Market.
Two people died and several were injured when fire swept through Nairobi's Gikomba Market in the early hours, destroying the fish section and leaving traders to count heavy losses yet again. A man and a woman were confirmed dead, four firefighters were hurt, and others were treated for minor injuries at the scene.
The Kenya Red Cross and Nairobi City County ambulances responded, but the operation was hampered when a National Youth Service fire engine was reportedly turned away by a crowd of youths. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, and a multi-agency investigation was launched.
Gikomba, East Africa's largest second-hand clothes market, has suffered at least ten major fires since 2010 – a grim pattern that traders blame on congestion, ageing electrical connections and slow emergency response. After each blaze, calls grow louder for the county to redesign the market with proper firebreaks, hydrants and access roads. For now, thousands of traders return to rebuild from ash, as they have done before.
This story was put together by K N N from material first published by Daily Nation & The Kenya Times.
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
Two people died and several were injured when fire swept through Nairobi’s Gikomba Market in the early hours, destroying the fish section and leaving traders to count heavy losses yet again. A man and a woman were confirmed dead, four firefighters were hurt, and others were treated for minor injuries at the scene.
The Kenya Red Cross and Nairobi City County ambulances responded, but the operation was hampered when a National Youth Service fire engine was reportedly turned away by a crowd of youths. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, and a multi-agency investigation was launched.
Gikomba, East Africa’s largest second-hand clothes market, has suffered at least ten major fires since 2010 — a grim pattern that traders blame on congestion, ageing electrical connections and slow emergency response. After each blaze, calls grow louder for the county to redesign the market with proper firebreaks, hydrants and access roads. For now, thousands of traders return to rebuild from ash, as they have done before.
Source: Daily Nation (21 June 2026) & The Kenya Times.
KNN Newsroom is the staff byline for stories written, rewritten and edited at the Kibra News Network desk. Where a story credits an outside outlet, the original source is linked at the foot of the piece.
