A fire has destroyed property of unknown value as several houses were burnt down at Meru G.K. Prison on Tuesday night.
Speaking on Wednesday, January 7, Meru Senior Assistant Commissioner Matthew Kimanzi said he received a distress call from the officer in charge at around 10:30 pm reporting the outbreak of the fire at the prison camp.
Kimanzi explained that the fire was so severe that it proved difficult to contain, forcing prison authorities to focus on evacuating all staff members from the affected structures.
"The fire was so severe, such a way that it was difficult to put it out. They attempted to evacuate all the staff members. The inferno was too big, and everything was destroyed," he said.
Despite the magnitude of the blaze, Kimanzi confirmed that there were no casualties in the incident, with all occupants successfully evacuated from the burning structures before the flames intensified.
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"Good enough, there were no casualties. Those inside one of the houses were evacuated. But still, everything was destroyed. So far, so good, no casualties," the Senior Assistant Commissioner stated.
However, he noted that the affected staff members lost all their belongings in the fire.
The scene was visited by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and county police as authorities launched investigations to establish the cause of the fire.
Kimanzi said that so far, investigators have not determined what triggered the inferno.
"We still don't know what happened or what caused the fire," he said.
He has issued an urgent appeal to well-wishers and humanitarian organizations to come to the aid of the affected prison staff who lost their homes and belongings in the fire.
"I'm asking for any kind of humanitarian support for those who were evacuated. In this regard, I'm appealing to all well-wishers within our country. If they can do something to assist those people who have been affected by the inferno, so that they can pick up their lives and move on," Kimanzi appealed.
The Meru prison fire comes same day after another major fire incident in Nairobi's Central Business District that has disrupted business operations along Luthuli Avenue.
The Ramogi Building caught fire on Tuesday evening and continued burning into Wednesday, with firefighters still battling to completely extinguish the blaze by midday.
Shops along Luthuli Avenue, one of the busiest commercial stretches in Nairobi CBD, remained shut on Wednesday as police cordoned off the area.
The fire damaged multiple electronics outlets, with the cause yet to be established.
