Police in Ndia, Kirinyaga County have launched investigations into a fire incident that saw property worth millions razed down.

According to to the Ndia sub-county police commander Moses Koskei no one was however hurt during the Tuesday morning incident that has seen about 10 traders affected.

A local, Peter Mwangi was among the first people to discover the fire that was spreading rapidly to nearby shops. He said that he had just parked his vehicle a few minutes when he saw smoke coming out from a nearby rice mill.

” I called the county fire brigade to help put out the fire which was spreading rapidly, “Mwangi said.

It took more than three hours for the fire to be contained. Residents however called upon the county government to avail more fire engines since the available firefighters had to travel 20Km before arriving at the scene.

The cause of the fire is yet to be established but it is suspected to be a case an arson.

“The economic situation is really tough and we wonder why someone would set our premises on fire, ” an affected trader, Joseph Wanjohi, lamented.

The  rice mill owner ,Susan Wamwirua, revealed that she has incurred more than 5 million shillings loss.

“We lost property worth more than 5 million shillings. There were about 200 bags of rice in the mill.”