Kenya suffers another petrol fire, four dead and 45 injured
Police officers and firefighters at the scene where four people were burnt after a petrol tanker lost control and overturned before catching fire a few kilometres from Busia town at 7pm September 20, 2011. 45 others were rushed to Busia district hospital for treatment. JACOB OWITI
The curse of petrol siphoning has hit the country again, claiming at least four lives along the Kisumu-Busia highway on Tuesday night.
Some 45 others are hospitalised at the Busia District Hospital and Alupe hospital with serious burns.
Worried relatives who had not traced their loved ones expressed fears that the figures could be higher, as others could have dived into the nearby river Suo in a bid to cool off the burns.
The incident occurred barely 10 days after over 100 people lost their lives in a fire fuelled by petrol siphoning in Nairobi’s Sinai slums. (READ: 100 killed in Nairobi fuel fire)
The Kisumu-Busia highway is notorious for the vice, which time and again have cost lives and maimed others.
Kenya has seen tragic accidents involving fuel, such as at Sachang’wan on the Nakuru-Eldoret road in 2009 in which 122 people perished and Sidindi in Ugenya in which 39 people died.
The high number of deaths also raises the question on the best way to transport the highly flammable commodity.
Western Provincial Police boss Mr Benson Kibui said the driver of the tanker in the Tuesday incident said that he lost control of the vehicle before rolling several times near the river, seven kilometres from Busia town.
Balls of flame
Mr Kibui said the lone driver then left the scene to report the accident to the police when an explosion followed by a ball of flames and distress calls attracted his attention.
“It is unfortunate that once again we have lost people in a petrol related accident which they could have stayed away from after all”, said Mr Kibui.
Some of the victims narrated how they left their dinner tables on hearing the news that another tanker had overturned, arming themselves with containers to get their share of the loot.
A victim, Fred Okello, narrated from his hospital bed how two people tried to remove the battery of the Kampala bound tanker when the fire started from the terminals.
“It was like a nightmare. The people were jubilating one moment and the next, fire was all over them. Those of us who thought that we had kept a safe distance were also caught by the fire”.
At the scene, men, women and children milled around as the police and volunteers fought to rescue burning victims.
Busia town, a major transit point for petrol tankers daily does to have a fire fighting engine. Help had to come from Mumias, about 60 kilometres away, to put off the fire.
Medical personnel at the Busia district hospital were overwhelmed by the magnitude, prompting a back up from the Kakamega Provincial General Hospital.
