A fire incident in Mashuuru area, Kajiado county, has claimed lives of five family members.
Three children, their mother, and a domestic worker were among the fatalities of the fire. The bodies have since been taken to Kilome Nursing Home mortuary in Emali.
The house owner, Saitoti Ole Maina, was not in at the moment of the inferno. Saitoti is said to have dropped food stuff at 8:00 pm for dinner preparation before proceeding to a pub, almost a kilometer away from his home.
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While confirming the incident Mashuuru Deputy County Commissioner Barasa Wafula, said investigations into the unfortunate incident have commenced in earnest.
"We are yet to establish the cause of fire but it is very disheartening that five lives have been lost. Investigations into the matter have commenced to establish what could have caused the fire," Wafula said.
According to the accounts of the eye witnesses, the fire broke out at 9:30 pm Thursday. A neighbor told K24 Digital, that their concerted efforts to put off the fire were in vain since the family had locked their door from inside.
"It is indeed a very sad incident of losing an entire family to an inferno. It is so unfortunate that neighbors did not manage to put off the fierce fire and the door was closed from inside. We tried reaching out to the fire brigade but none of the fire engines were available to help," the neighbor said.
Speaking after the incident, area MCA Amos Peshut chided the county government for their late response to the residents' emergency calls. Peshut asked the Ole Lenku administration to equip upcoming towns with working fire engines and experts.
"If we there was immediate response from fire engine brigade probably things would have been different. Perhaps lives would have been saved. We depend on a fire engine situated miles away in Kajiado town and Kitengela and that simply means property and lives can barely be saved incase of any fire outbreak," he said.
