Liquid petroleum gas cylinders on a truck exploded in an illegal depot in a residential area and set off a late-night inferno that rapidly spread and burned homes and warehouses, killing at least three people and injuring 280 others, officials said Friday. The death toll was expected to rise.
Liquid petroleum gas cylinders on a truck exploded in an illegal depot in a residential area and set off a late-night inferno that rapidly spread and burned homes and warehouses, killing at least three people and injuring 280 others, officials said Friday. The death toll was expected to rise.
The depot had twice been demolished, and the owner had been charged in court and found guilty for operating an illegal gas refilling business in May, but still continued to operate, officials said, raising suspicions – in a country where corruption is endemic – that bribes were paid to ignore the operation.
At least 24 people were critically injured, the Kenya Red Cross said, after a huge fireball erupted from the gas depot. Some gas cylinders were thrown hundreds of meters, sparking separate fires in the neighborhood.
The Petroleum Institute of East Africa said that despite a precedent set by the High Court – where those found guilty of the offence of operating an illegal gas facility should be sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison or a fine of at least $61,500 – a magistrates’ court gave the owner of the illegal depot a year’s imprisonment or a fine of $3,076.
Despite the law providing for mandatory forfeiture, the magistrate also released all motor vehicles, including two LPG tankers, together with confiscated LPG that had a net weight of 4,660 kilograms (more than 10,000 pounds), PIEA said.
PIEA said that one of the tankers that was “unprocedurally released” was involved in the explosions and fire that broke out.
“The proprietor continued operating the illegal storage and refilling facility without even the bare minimum safety standards and qualified LPG personnel as required by law leading to this unfortunate catastrophe which could have been avoided should the letter and spirit of the law have been followed,” PIEA said.
