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More Than 100 Killed By Tanker Explosion

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 2, 2009

MOLO - The explosion of an overturned petrol tanker Saturday night in Kenya could be felt for miles, and in the moments that followed, people ablaze, their clothes burned off, ran to the bush in a futile effort to escape the pain and begged for help.

More than 100 people were killed and an additional 200 injured in the inferno. Hospitals were overwhelmed Sunday, with victims lining the floors, hooked to drips and moaning in pain. Authorities expected the death toll to rise and were searching the scorched woods for corpses.

Hundreds of impoverished people had flocked to the overturned tanker Saturday to siphon fuel when it exploded, likely sparked by a cigarette.

The explosion was one of this East African nation's deadliest accidents, and highlighted the desperation of people living in the poorest continent in the world.

"Poverty is pushing our people into doing desperate things just to get through one more day," Prime Minister Raila Odinga said at a hospital in Nakuru, near Molo.

The Associated Press

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