Huge fire destroys Nairobi market

A huge fire has destroyed large parts of East Africa’s biggest second-hand clothing market in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, officials say.

Thousands of people lost properties and other valuables in the inferno at the Gikomba market, they said.

The blaze spread quickly through the market and firemen extinguished it several hours after it began.

The cause of the fire is still unclear but it may have been started by an electrical fault, reports say.

The market has a monthly turnover of $1.1m (£700,000), says the BBC’s Abdi Noor in Nairobi.

There were chaotic scenes as people tried to salvage their belongings, he adds.

The market is visited daily by thousands of people from East Africa to buy clothes and food.

Police and the Kenyan Red Cross said no major casualties had been reported.

A few traders sustained minor injuries while trying to salvage their property, they said.

This is the second fire to hit Nairobi in two days. On Monday, a fire gutted a petrol depot in the city’s industrial district. BBC