Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Rescue workers and traders assess the damage after the fire at Gikomba market

At least 15 people have been killed in a fire at a market in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

More than 70 people were injured in the blaze, which broke out in the middle of the night destroying many properties.

Gikomba is one of the largest open-air markets in the city and fires there are frequent, leading to speculation about possible arson attacks, The Standard newspaper says.

However, the cause of the current fire is not yet known.

The St John Ambulance service said the fire broke out at 02:30 local time (23:30 GMT on Wednesday) and spread to apartments and market stalls before being contained after about 90 minutes.

Image copyright SNS Image caption The pre-dawn blaze destroyed many stalls where clothes, shoes and vegetables were sold

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Riot police are at the scene where traders have gathered to view the damage

Some of the victims were burned while others inhaled poisonous fumes as they tried to salvage their property.

Hospital officials said there were four children among the dead.

Pictures from Reuters news agency showed people searching the wreckage and ash.

The injured have been rushed to different hospitals across the city.

One woman told the BBC she is still searching for her sister. "When I got to the scene, the fire had already spread to her house," said Millicent Achieng.

"She told me she was inside her flat and there was so much smoke that she couldn't move. Her child was with her."

Ms Achieng said she pleaded with the security guard to open the gate to building, but he refused - saying he had been instructed by the landlord to lock it to "keep looters out".

Image caption Millicent Achieng is desperately searching for her sister

Ms Achieng said she tried to reach her sister unsuccessfully by phone several more times.

"Now calls aren't going through," she said.

"At dawn I asked my brother to go look for her in the hospitals but he couldn't find her. We don't know if my sister is among those who were burned beyond recognition."

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The market is well known for the sale of second-hand clothes, shoes and vegetables, and also has timber yards which were damaged in the blaze.

The blaze is believed to have broken out in one of the timber yards.</s>Nairobi: A fire at Nairobi’s Gikomba market killed 15 people today, a government official said, less than a year after a blaze to destroyed much of the Kenyan capital’s largest open-air market. “We have lost 15 people from this tragedy this morning,” said regional coordinator Kangethe Thuku.

“We’re yet to establish the cause of this fire,” he said, which is believed to have started in a timber yard. The pre-dawn blaze left over 70 people injured and destroyed many of the market’s wood and tarp stalls where second-hand clothes, shoes and vegetables are sold on the eastern side of the city.

A police officer at the scene said emergency services continued to search the area. “We are still trying to get to some corner [of the market] which has heavy smoke, because part of the area has not been accessed due to live electric wires,” the officer said.

Witnesses heard explosions as gas canisters were swept up in the inferno. Nine of the dead were in an apartment block next to the market while six others — including four children — died of their injuries in hospital. A large fire destroyed much of the market in October last year. In May 2014, 10 people died in a bombing at the market blamed on Al-Qaeda-aligned Shabaab militants.</s>In Kenya, at least 15 people, including young children, died after a popular market caught fire early Thursday in the capital Nairobi.

About 70 people were said to be injured from the fire and 15 homes destroyed.

Emergency service at the St John Ambulance which gave accounts of the casualties said the blaze broke out at 2:30 a.m. and spread to apartments and several shanties before being contained around 90 minutes later.</s>NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya market fire kills 15, injures 70 in Nairobi, as rescue workers search for more bodies, according to local media.</s>At least 15 people are dead and 70 others injured in a fire at a market in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Emergency service St John Ambulance said the blaze broke out early on Wednesday and spread to apartments and several shanties before being contained around 90 minutes later.

Nairobi regional co-ordinator Kangethe Thuku said the death toll had reached 15.

"About five... arrived dead in the hospital but we still have about nine bodies in the burning buildings because we want to confirm and ensure the safety of those buildings," he said.

A Reuters photographer saw bodies being brought out from a building, and pictures showed people sifting through ashen wreckage as smoke rose from the site.</s>In this image from TV, a fire fighter damps down the charred debris after a fire swept through a marketplace in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday June 28, 2018.

NAIROBI, Kenya – A fire has swept one of Nairobi’s largest open air markets, killing 15 and sending 70 injured to hospitals, said an official.

Nairobi County Commissioner Kangethe Thuku said six bodies have been recovered and and nine are stuck in a building and must be retrieved.

Rescue teams are searching for more bodies and survivors in the Gikomba market, in the Pumwani low income neighborhood in Kenya’s capital city. Many Kenyans shop for second-hand clothes from the Gikomba market which also supplies other vendors with the used clothes from Europe and the United States.</s>NAIROBI, Kenya – A fire has swept one of Nairobi’s largest open air markets, killing 15 and sending 70 injured to hospitals, said an official.

Nairobi County Commissioner Kangethe Thuku said six bodies have been recovered and and nine are stuck in a building and must be retrieved.

Rescue teams are searching for more bodies and survivors in the Gikomba market, in the Pumwani low income neighborhood in Kenya’s capital city. Many Kenyans shop for second-hand clothes from the Gikomba market which also supplies other vendors with the used clothes from Europe and the United States.</s>Nairobi, June 28 (IANS) At least 15 people were killed and 70 others injured on Thursday when a massive fire ripped through one of Kenya’s largest open-air markets.

The St. John Ambulance service in Kenya said the fire broke out in the Gikomba market in central Nairobi at around 2.30 a.m., although the cause of the blaze was yet to be determined, reports Efe news.

“Multi-agency search and rescue operations ongoing, 15 residential apartments and several shanties affected,” the service said in a statement.

The injured were rushed to the Kenyatta National Hospital.

Kenya’s Red Cross said the fire had been contained.

The Gikomba market, a popular commercial centre for second-hand clothes and electronic gadgets, has been damaged by several fires in recent years.</s>NAIROBI (Reuters) - Nine people are feared dead and dozens have been injured after a fire broke out at a market in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, St John Ambulance said on Thursday.

“At least 9 people feared dead, 58 injured, property worth millions destroyed after a fire outbreak at Nairobi’s Gikomba market at 2AM,” it said on Twitter.

It posted pictures showing a raging fire and damage to property.

St John Ambulance said victims had been taken to the Kenyatta National Hospital.</s>NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya market fire kills 15, injures 70 in Nairobi, as rescue workers search for more bodies, according to local media.

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A fire breaks out at the Gikomba market in Nairobi, Kenya, with 15 people confirmed dead and many homes and stalls being destroyed.