Mother, daughter killed in Kiambaa fire
Residents of Gatuikira village in Ndenderu, Kiambaa sub-county woke up to a sad morning following the death of two family members in an inferno.
Two survivors are nursing severe injuries following the fire whose cause is yet to be established.
Grace Kanyiri and her three-year old daughter Njoki Kanyiri died when their house caught fire at around midnight.
Her husband Joseph Kanyiri and another daughter, Ngendo Kanyiri, sustained severe burns and are admitted to Kwa Njamba Dispensary and Kihara Hospital respectively.
Karuri OCPD Phineas Ringera said that a team of investigators had been dispatched to the scene to investigate the cause of the fire.
“Kanyiri, who is the father, is in a stable condition and is receiving treatment at Kwa Njaba dispensary in Ndenderu town while his daughter Ngendo is hospitalised at Kihara Hospital,” he said.
He added: “DCI officers from Karuri Police station are combining the debris in an effort to piece information which can lead to the establishment of the cause of the deadly inferno.”
Robert Ndichu, who is brother to Kanyiri, said that he was woken up by screams and shouts for help and when he went out, he found his brother’s house on fire.
He said efforts to rescue the family members were hampered by the huge flames of fire and a cloud of smoke.
“By the grace of God, we managed to rescue my brother and my niece Ngendo. Unfortunately, we could not be able to access the room where his wife and three-year-old daughter were because of the raging fire,” he said.
Among those who responded to the distress call was Kiambaa Jubilee party parliamentary aspirant Kariri Njama who asked the county government to ensure that fire engines can easily reach any part of the county.
“If there was a fire engine around, the lives of the two would have been saved,” he said.
He said that his Njama Foundation would assist the family in burial preparations and also help put up another home.
