Three hotels operated by Neptune Hotels in Kenya’s South coast were on Tuesday night gutted by a fire.

The fire is said to have started at Palm Hotel at around 5.30pm. Fanned by strong winds, the raging inferno then spread to two other hotels, Neptune Village and Neptune Paradise Beach Resort and Spa.

According to Kwale acting County Commissioner, Mwangi Kahiro, the cause of the fire was yet to be established. Although there were no injuries reported, the huge blaze left in its wake one of the worst records of destruction of property at the Kenya coast.

Kahiro said apart from three hotels which were razed by the inferno, 83 cottages belonging to private owners in Diani were also reduced to ashes by the fire. At least 50 international guests were safely evacuated from the affected hotels and taken to neighboring hotels in Diani.

The fire comes as hotels are preparing for the high tourist season which will begin on mid-July.

Diani residents and property owners said although firefighters arrived about 30 minutes after they were informed of the inferno, they were overpowered by the blaze after they ran out of water in 20 minutes.

South Coast Joint Security Forum Chairman Edward Sumba questioned the ability of the county government to deal with disasters of such magnitude. “We still need firefighting equipment in Kwale and the disaster management team needs to undergo thorough training,” he added.

 Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya, who visited the scene, said the incident was beyond anybody’s imagination. “We are saddened by the huge destruction of property caused by the fire and the inconvenience which was caused to hotel guests,” he said. He said he was thankful no life was lost in the blaze.

Efforts to get a comment from Neptune Hotels Operations Director Vikram Korla were unsuccessful.