Over 100 killed in a pipeline explosion in Kenya

September 12, 2011

In a densely populated neighborhood of Nairobi, the capital, a fuel leak and a cigarette butt caused the accident.  Deaths are calculated in over a hundred people and  there were many injured.

The fire began following an oil leak that reached  open sewers in the industrial area of ​​Lunga Lunga surrounded by the Sinai. A dropped cigarette butt caused the fuel began to burn.

“There was a leak in the duct and people tried to recover the fuel. Then there was a loud bang, a huge explosion and the flames and smoke rose high into the sky, “said one witness.

They haven’t had yet an official number of victims because they were still carrying out the tasks to fight the fire before a recount. The head of the police Atuti Thomas said: ”We think the death toll is more than a hundred.”

Several TV channels broadcast images of burned bodies as fire destroys houses. They also showed many injured with severe burns on face and arms.

Spokesman Charles Owino told police: “The scene is terrible, there are a large number of people burned,” adding: “There are many bodies still have to count”