Scores killed in Kenya oil blaze
Ξ February 1st, 2009 | → | ∇ Uncategorized |
At least 50 people died in Kenya after an overturned petrol tanker caught fire and exploded.
Reports say the fire broke out after hundreds of people gathered to collect the spilt fuel in the town of Molo.
Dozens of people have also been injured in the blaze. Officials say the death toll is expected to rise.
The cause of the fire is not clear - some reports said it was caused by a lit cigarette, but others said it had been started deliberately.
“The people went to scoop up the oil, then something lit the fire, maybe someone dropped a cigarette,” Kenya Red Cross spokesman Titus Mung’ou told Reuters.
One eyewitness told the Nation newspaper that it had been lit by people whom the police had prevented from getting the petrol.
The newspaper criticised what it said was a slow official response to the fire, which was still reported to be burning several hours later.
“The Nakuru Municipal Council’s fire engine arrived at the scene more than an hour after the explosion,” said the newspaper, adding that Molo itself has no fire engine.
The incident comes just days after a devastating fire at a supermarket in the Kenyan capital Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
Kenyan media also criticised the emergency response to that disaster, calling it slow and inadequate.
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