NAIROBI, KENYA — Emergency response teams and the Kenya Red Cross have been urgently deployed to Nairobi’s historic Gikomba Market after a catastrophic pre-dawn fire swept through the bustling trading hub early Sunday morning. The massive inferno has reduced thousands of business stalls to ashes, leaving countless traders counting devastating financial losses.
According to the Kenya Red Cross Nairobi Branch, the blaze—believed to have ignited around 4:00 a.m.—has caused unprecedented structural damage across multiple sectors of the market. “The Kenya Red Cross, alongside a multi-agency response team, is on the ground supporting emergency response efforts and assessing the needs of those affected,” the agency confirmed in a statement. As of Sunday afternoon, the exact cause of the fire remains under active investigation by local authorities.
For the thousands of traders who depend on Gikomba for their daily survival, Sunday morning brought nothing but despair. Lydia Aurelia sat in disbelief next to a smoldering heap of ashes that, just hours prior, was her thriving stall. Having received a frantic phone call around 2:00 a.m. alerting her to the danger, Aurelia rushed to the scene hoping to salvage her merchandise, only to find the flames had already consumed everything.
“My work is over. We did not salvage anything from the fire,” she lamented, pointing to a small, lingering fire burning among the charred remains of her livelihood.
The despair is echoed across the vast market space, which has transformed from one of East Africa’s busiest commercial centers into a grim landscape of twisted metal sheets and thick smoke. Zakaria Mukami, who operated several shoe shops within the market, stood paralyzed by the destruction. Tears welling in his eyes, he recounted receiving a call at 3:00 a.m. but arriving too late to save the business he had spent years diligently building.
“The fire was huge, and it was not possible to salvage anything,” Mukami said. Overwhelmed by the loss of his life’s work, he issued a desperate plea: “Please help me,” appealing directly to the Kenyan government for urgent intervention and financial assistance.
The fire’s reach was exceptionally extensive, ravaging critical local sections and neighboring residential spaces. Reports indicate the blaze tore through Gorofani Estate, Bondeni Estate, Kwa Mandizi Market, Kwa ma Bags, Kwa Kuku, Kwa Uniforms, Kwa ma Shirts na Jeans, the Kwa Mbao (timber) section, the Kwa Fish section, and the Daraja Area.
As Sunday progressed, devastated traders continued to sift through the debris in a desperate search for answers and remnants of their merchandise. With the cause of the fire yet to be established, the Nairobi community faces an agonizing road to recovery, looking to local and national authorities to address the recurrent tragedy of fires at the iconic Gikomba Market.
