A fire set off by a gas explosion in Kenya kills at least 3 people and injures 280 others

This news has been read 400 times!

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 3, (AP): Liquid petroleum gas cylinders exploded in an illegal depot in a residential area of the Kenyan capital, officials said Friday, setting off a late-night inferno that killed at least three people and injured 280 others. The death toll was expected to rise.
The depot in Nairobi had twice been demolished, and the owner had been found guilty of operating an illegal gas refilling business in May, but continued to do business, officials said. That raised 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 and rapidly spread, burning homes and warehouses. Some gas cylinders were thrown hundreds of meters (yards), sparking separate fires in the neighborhood.
The Petroleum Institute of East Africa said a magistrates’ court sentenced the owner of the illegal depot to a year in prison or a fine of $3,076. That was despite a precedent set by Kenya’s High Court in which those found guilty 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.
Despite the law providing for mandatory forfeiture, the magistrate also released all motor vehicles, including two liquid petroleum gas tankers, together with confiscated LPG that had a net weight of 4,660 kilograms (more than 10,000 pounds), the PIEA said.
The institute said 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,” it said.
Local resident Charles Mainge said “the government knew this liquid petroleum gas plant was existing in a residential area but they did nothing.”
“They should make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he said.

This news has been read 400 times!