Six people were Saturday night burnt to death and numerous others suffered serious injuries at Kamara near Makutano along Nakuru-Eldoret Highway after a petrol tanker they were scooping fuel from caught fire. According to an eyewitness, the incident happened at around 9pm when the driver of the Petrol tanker lost control while avoiding collision with another lorry. The lorry overturned and landed in a ditch. “I was among the first people to arrive at the scene and found the driver of the tanker and his conductor, we rescued them and they were rushed to hospital,” said Duncan Kemboi, a witness. An hour after the tanker fell, residents milled around the area with jerricans and overwhelmed the police who tried to stop them from siphoning fuel. The youth engaged the police in running battle before one of them allegedly produced a matchbox and set the petrol tanker on fire causing huge explosion. Rift Valley Regional Traffic Commandant Mary Omari who arrived at the scene said those injured had been rushed to various hospitals in Nakuru, Molo and Eldama Ravine where some were in critical condition.
“Six have already been confirmed dead as they have been burnt beyond recognition after the incident and others whose number we are yet to know, sustained critical burns and were receiving treatment at various hospitals," said Mrs Omari. The senior traffic officer however urged the locals to desist from such activities as siphoning fuel after accidents as they were endangering their lives.
Seven victims of the explosion were admitted at Eldama Ravine district hospital with most of them having burns on the legs, hands, face. One of the victims Silas Kipng'etich told The Standard at his hospital bed he was standing near the scene and just noticed a huge flame, forcing him to flee. “I just do not know how the fire started. I only remember watching as people scoop fuel and when the fire started, I fled for my dear life but I was not lucky as one of my legs got severe burns,” he narrated. Looting and siphoning of fuel when an accident happens has been synonymous with the area residents and barely a day before, a container ferrying chewing gum and books rolled and the locals made away with everything.
In 2009, over 133 people lost their lives in Sachangawn along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway when a tanker exploded after it had overturned.
Courtesy: The Standard Online Newspaper (August 17, 2014): http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/thecounties/article/2000131731/six-people-burnt-beyond-recognition-in-nakuru-eldoret-highway-tanker-explosion?pageNo=2
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