GAS BLAST IN KENYAN CAPITAL KILLS THREE AND INJURES NEARLY 300
NAIROBI - A huge gas blast in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, has killed at least three people and injured nearly 300.
A lorry carrying gas cylinders exploded in Embakasi district at about 23:30 on Thursday, "igniting a huge ball of fire," an official said.
Housing, businesses and cars were damaged, with video showing a huge blaze raging close to blocks of flats.
The area has been cordoned off and an investigation is under way into the cause of the explosion.
A child was among those who died, according Embakasi police chief Wesley Kimeto, who added that the death toll could rise.
Some 271 people were taken to hospital, according to the authorities, including at least 25 children.
Nairobi county Governor Sakaja Johnson said many of these people had been treated and sent home, but at least 39 have been sent to other facilities - some with critical injuries.
A further 27 people were treated on site for non-life-threatening injuries. Jackline Karimi said she ran out of the house and lay flat on the tarmac. She suffered burns on her right hand and arm up to the shoulder and to her right leg.
"I saw a woman on fire, but we couldn't help her. Everyone was running," Karimi said.
Another woman who was in a flat near the scene of the blast said she was trying to trace her friend. "She was pregnant and had a child in the house, which is now completely burned."
Isaac Mwaura, the government spokesperson, said a command centre has been set up to help co-ordinate rescue operations and humanitarian assistance is being given to those affected.
He also said the government plans to provide two months' rent for survivors whose houses were razed in the explosion.
The government initially said the blast happened at a gas plant where workers were refilling gas cylinders, but the authorities later clarified that a truck had exploded in a parking yard.
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) said in a statement that the gas plant was illegal and that it had rejected three applications for construction permits to build a storage and filling facility at the site.
Epra said the designs did not meet its safety standards and there was a high population around the proposed site.
It is not clear how the facility was still able to operate. –