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September 13, 2011

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Scores killed as pipeline explodes

Source: Agencies | September 13, 2011, Tuesday | Print Edition

A LEAKING gasoline pipeline in Kenya's capital exploded yesterday, turning part of a slum into an inferno in which at least 75 people were killed and more than 100 hurt.

Flames leapt out from the pipeline in a radius of some 300 meters, setting shacks ablaze and incinerating scores of people. Reporters later saw clusters of charred bodies and blackened bones at the site. Some burned bodies floated in a nearby river filled with sewage.

Homes had been built right up to the pipeline, residents said.

"I've lost count of the number of bodies," said Wilfred Mbithi, the policeman in charge of operations in Nairobi. "Many had dived into the river trying to put out their flames."

A Red Cross official said at least 75 bodies had been recovered last night, but said the death toll would rise.

Nearby, a young woman clawed through smoldering timbers, screaming in grief. Others wandered by the remains of the inferno, frantically dialing phone numbers that didn't go through or staring around in disbelief.

Fires still smoldered among the twisted wreckage of corrugated iron sheets and scattered possessions. Visibility was poor because of rain and smoke.

Resident Joseph Mwangi, 34, said he was feeding his cow when people went running past him, calling out that there was a leak in the pipeline. He said others started drawing fuel and that he was going to go and get a bucket and get fuel too when he heard an explosion at around 9am.

By then fuel had leaked into the river and parts of the river had also caught fire. People in flames were jumping into the fiery, stinking mess, he said.

Mwangi discovered two small charred bodies in the burnt wreckage of his home.

"Those were my children," he said, before collapsing on the ground sobbing.

Another man, Michael Muriuki, found the body of his daughter still smoldering. He ran to the river for water to put her out. He took a deep breath and struggled for control before speaking.

"Her name was Josephine Muriuki. She was five," he told reporters.

At the time of the explosion, the narrow, twisting alleyways would have been packed with people on their way to work or school who had stopped to try to scoop up fuel. The flimsy homes of corrugated iron sheets would have offered little resistance to the blast.

The Red Cross was conducting search and rescue operations and had set up two tents for first aid and counseling, said Bernard Magila, who was helping the operation.

At least 112 burn victims have arrived so far at Kenyatta National Hospital and they urgently need blood donors and blankets, said Richard Lisiyampe, head of the hospital.

Many children were among the victims. Most had burns covering more than a third of their bodies, he said.

Inside the hospital, beds were crowded together and doctors and nurses rushed from victim to victim.

Many had long strips of skin hanging from their heads and bodies. One man picked at his hands distractedly, peeling off skin like gloves. Relatives clustered outside operating rooms, waiting for news.

"This is a terrible accident," said Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who visited the hospital. He said the government would cover expenses for the injured and pay compensation to those who lost loved ones. He also said he had visited the offices of the Kenya Pipeline Company, who operate the pipeline. They had told him the explosion was caused by a leak from the pipeline into nearby sewage.

In 2009, at least 120 people were killed as they were trying to scoop fuel spilled from a crashed petrol tanker in Kenya when it exploded.


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