Incident occurred within the Embakasi district of Nairobi late on Thursday night time and firefighters had been nonetheless making an attempt to douse the flames at daybreak.
At the very least two folks have been killed and lots of injured after a gasoline explosion triggered an enormous fireplace in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.
The hearth broke out on Thursday night time within the Embakasi neighbourhood, authorities spokesman Isaac Maigua Mwaura mentioned on social media platform X.
“One Lorry [truck] of an unknown registration quantity that was loaded with gasoline exploded, igniting an enormous ball of fireplace that unfold extensively,” he wrote, including that autos, companies and residential houses had been consumed by the flames.
“A superb variety of residents [were] nonetheless inside because it was late at night time,” he mentioned.
Wesley Kimeto, commander in control of police in Embakasi, was quoted saying on The Customary newspaper’s X account that a minimum of two folks had been confirmed lifeless within the incident.
The Kenyan Crimson Cross mentioned it had taken some 271 folks to well being services across the capital and 27 had been handled on website.
Firefighters had been nonetheless working to deliver the fireplace beneath management at about 6:30am native time (03:30 GMT), in accordance with the AFP information company, and enormous columns of black smoke had been seen rising into the air on the outskirts of town.
In his assertion, Mwaura mentioned that the world had now “been secured, and a command centre is now in place to assist coordinate rescue operations and different intervention efforts”.
“Kenyans are hereby suggested to maintain off the cordoned space with the intention to permit the rescue mission to be carried out with minimal disruptions,” he added.
However for close by residents, the fireplace has impacted livelihoods and companies.
“The entire constructing was shaken by an enormous tremor, it felt prefer it was going to break down. At first, we didn’t even know what was occurring, it was like an earthquake,” James Ngoge, who lives throughout the road from the place the fireplace broke out, instructed AFP.
Ngoge added that his enterprise, which was on the road the place the fireplace broke out, was now “fully destroyed”.