A night inferno at the Matanya Trading Centre in Laikipia Central has claimed the lives of a woman and five children.
According to reports, Beatrice Wambui arrived home while drunk on Tuesday night, lit a candle, and left it to burn through the night.
Wambui had been escorted to her home by a neighbor, Jane Muthoni, but insisted on leaving the candle on.
According to Deputy County commissioner Henry Ochako, the burning candle is what set wooden structures ablaze leading to the inferno.
Wambui’s three children aged between one and a half and seven succumbed to the fire. The other two were Muthoni’s children aged six and seven.
“It is unfortunate that lives were lost because of alcohol. The other woman, said to be a sex worker, had left her two children in the house and locked it from outside,” Ochako told journalists.
The Deputy Commissioner added that a posho mill, second-hand clothes shop, and six rooms were also razed.
Residents said the fire could not be contained because of strong winds.
The bodies of the deceased were moved to the
