Now 34 missing in supermarket fire

The latest number of people missing from the Wednesday fire at a Nairobi supermarket has now risen to 34.

But, the police have said that they are investigating only four cases so far.

Firefighters on the scene say they are waiting for structural engineers to inspect the building before they go in.

According to the Kenya Red Cross disaster management manager, Mr Davis Okoko, relatives have reported that 17 males and 17 females are missing.

The missing persons include two girls aged two and three years old.

The distressed relatives have told Red Cross workers at a tent erected on Kenyatta Avenue that they cannot locate their kin.

The humanitarian body has also erected another tent to offer psychosocial counselling to relatives of the missing persons.

A relative to one of the four workers who were reported missing told the Nation that they last contacted him on Wednesday morning.

Mr Isaac Maina said they could not reach his younger brother Ezekiel Macharia since the incidence occurred.

One person has been confirmed dead after he jumped from the burning building on Wednesday onto the street. His family is yet to be contacted and his identity remains unknown.

Seven other people, including supermarket staff who had been admitted to the Coptic and Avenue Hospitals were treated and discharged, according to Mr Okoko.

Rescue efforts by the police and the Red Cross have been hampered by intermittent fire in the Woolworths Building.

Smoke is still billowing from the building and a number of explosions have been heard Thursday morning.

Firefighters are still at the scene in an attempt to extinguish the fire.

However, the rescuers have expressed concern that the one storey building was likely to cave in barring them from accessing the building.

“The first floor of the building has already started collapsing,” one of the firefighters at the scene told the Nation.

GSU officers called in to put order seem to be facing difficulties in controlling the crowds that are standing metres away from the building.

Following reports of missing people filed by relatives, there are fears that some shoppers may have been trapped inside the building on Wednesday.

The Nation newsroom has also received calls from distressed people trying to locate their relatives.

A Nakumatt employee admitted at the Kenyatta National Hospital told journalists on Wednesday evening that he left about 20 shoppers trapped inside the store as he escaped.

A combined force was called in to fight the fire, including: Nairobi City Council Fire Brigade, Kenya Airports Authority fire fighters, G4S Fire Brigade, Kenya Air Force, Securex Fire and Kenya Police, among others.