TRADERS and riot police fought running battles in a suburb of the Kenyan capital Nairobi after the city’s biggest clothes market burned to the ground, witnesses said. Police fired teargas canisters into the angry crowd as traders attempted to march into the centre of Nairobi. The traders believed the fire was the result of arson and accuse senior city councillors of trying to put them out of business. The fire at the Gikomba market was the second at a major clothes market in the last eight days. Freemark clothes market in central Nairobi burned down on August 28 and traders there also said the fire was started deliberately. There were no casualties as a result of the early morning fire, rescue officials said, although the local media reported that one woman died later of shock. Nairobi chief fire officer Ian Mwangi said the fire spread extremely quickly but it was difficult to determine the cause of the blaze. – Reuters