Many killed in explosion – government had been warned
15 September 2011
It is believed that around 100 people were burned to death when a pipeline burst into flames in a Nairobi slum as local people were siphoning fuel from it.
It is believed that around 100 people were burned to death when a pipeline burst into flames in a Nairobi slum as local people were siphoning fuel from it
Apparently, the Kenyan government was repeatedly warned about the dangers of people living on top of a gasoline pipeline that leaked fuel and exploded.
The three largest slums in the capital of Nairobi – home to over 500 000 people – are located on land unsuitable for human habitation, according to 2008 research by the University of Nairobi.
The report, which was presented to government, had warned that the Sinai slum was built on top of a gasoline pipeline and a sewer leading from the industrial centre. When one of the pipeline’s gaskets burst, gasoline gushed into the sewer, where it ignited as hundreds of slum residents were siphoning it.
Residents of Sinai, the site of the fire, were living there illegally and should have been moved, according to Wanjau Maina, the Chairperson of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya.