(Image source: Daily Nation)


BY EMILY SPAIN

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In a desperate attempt to get oil spewing from a broken pipeline in Kenya’s capital, nearly one hundred people are dead after the loose fuel caught fire and exploded.

The blast hit an industrial area described as a slum, burning those after the free oil along with others in the area. Red Cross officials say at least 75 bodies have been recovered so far. (Video: KTN)

BBC explains what may have sparked the fire.

“What I have been able to establish is that fuel had leaked into the open sewers of the slum from a nearby oil depot. And as residents were trying to siphon the fuel out of the sewer, someone lit a cigarette and this spread right across the slum.”

So a cigarette butt may have caused the explosion, but others are citing cooking as a potential spark too. And what about the leaking fuel that started it all?

Kenya’s Daily Nation reports the Kenya Pipeline Company has taken the blame and sends out a warning.

“The Kenya Pipeline Company has acknowledged that the tragedy was a result of petrol spillage from two pipelines... [The managing director] asked the slum residents to surrender any products they had scooped. He also warned the public against buying the product from the slum residents.”

According to a writer for the Guardian this isn’t the first major pipeline explosion in Africa... noting one in Nigeria that killed 270 people in 2006.

“The explosions mostly take place in poor countries because international oil and gas companies often fail to bury or protect their pipelines as they would have to do by law in rich countries. The easily accessible pipes, which often run through slums ... are tempting to desperately poor communities, who often have no electricity...”

Of the survivors, many suffer severe third degree burns and are overwhelming the local hospital.

Kenya’s prime minister says he was shocked by the tragedy and gave this statement to NTV.

“This is a terrible, terrible, terrible accident. The worst accident ever to happen in this country, in the energy sector. This requires proper investigations.”

Transcript by Newsy.