Hundreds of traders are counting losses after a morning fire razed down 75% of the famous Toi market in Kibera, Nairobi.
Some witnesses and traders as well as suspicious Kenyans believe that it was a case of arson attack by land grabbers. Some said that it was so well managed to raze down the entire market with reports indicating that the fire started at all entry points.
This is the second biggest fire incident at the same market after the 2015 fire disaster.
The fire reportedly broke out at 3am and by 6am had reduced the busy market to ashes, with property worth millions of shillings lost.
Nairobi fire brigade has contained the fire after razing almost the entire market and burnt down the registry section of ministry of mining in Nairobi.
The cause of the fire is yet to be established and police are also yet to establish casualties.
Toi market holds thousands of wooden stalls in which traders sell their wares. Traders at the market deal in fresh food and second-hand clothes.
The informal market was rocked by infernos on November 2014, June 2015, February 2016, May 2017, and January 2018, sparking speculations by traders and the local community that there was a plot by some land grabbers to elbow them out of the market.
In 2014, a huge fire destroyed a section of the market after a fire started in one of the stalls. The fire, at that time, destroyed a large section of the market, rendering hundreds of traders jobless. Police at the time said preliminary findings indicated the fire was caused by an electric fault.