Two people die in Kondele guest house fire

Residents of Kondele in Kisumu county at the scene where fire razed down a guest house on December 20, 2017. Two people were confirmed dead while six others missing in the inferno whose cause has not yet been established. (Collins Oduor, Standard)

Two people were confirmed dead while two others are missing after a huge fire gutted down a guest house in Kondele estate.

Five other guests managed to escape during the 4am inferno that also destroyed property of unknown value.

Witnesses told The Standard that they were woken by screams and watched helplessly as guests cried for help.

"We could see people screaming for help from the windows of their rooms but they could not be helped because of the huge flames and the thick fumes, it was a horrific scene,” said Francis Aluko.

Part of the building's wall was constructed from wood which helped fan the flames.

“We tried to put out the fire and even climbed the roof but they kept growing,” said Cedric Otieno, a boda boda operator based near the guest house.

The fire, he said, caught them by surprise.

“We do not know what could have cost the fire because everything had been calm before it started,” he said.

Police however said that the fire could have been caused by an electric fault even as other witnesses blamed it poor housing structures and the failure by the county government to inspect houses to ensure that they have safety measures in place

John Kamau, the county commander said there had been a power outage in the area prior to the incident.

Police said 9 guests had booked rooms at the guest house. Two bodies were recovered while five managed to escape. Two guests have not been accounted for.

“So far we have recovered two bodies but two people are still missing,” said Kamau.

Residents at the scene said the fatalities could have been avoided if the building had enough fire safety fire measures put in place.

“The building was built using wood and it did not have an emergency exit, the windows were grilled making it very difficult for victims to escape,” said John Ochieng.