The explosion occurred in Nairobi's Embakasi area just before midnight on Thursday (February 1) at a gas filling company, causing severe damage to the building, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said on social media X.
The fire then engulfed a nearby textile warehouse, damaging several vehicles as well as commercial and residential properties, he added.
Firefighters near the scene of an explosion at a gas cylinder filling depot in Embakasi district, Nairobi, Kenya on February 2, 2024. Photo: Reuters
“An unknown truck loaded with petrol exploded, creating a huge fireball that spread,” Mwaura said on Friday, adding that vehicles, businesses and homes were engulfed in flames and some people may still be trapped inside.
Some 222 people were taken to various hospitals in the Kenyan capital, Mwaura said. The fire was finally brought under control Friday morning, but firefighters, rescue teams and police are still searching for people trapped in the area.
Many properties were burned down in the explosion. Photo: AP
The initial cause of the explosion is still unknown. At the scene after dawn, several houses and shops were burned down. The roof of a four-story residential building about 200 meters from the explosion site was broken, with electrical wires lying on the ground.
Earlier, the Kenya Red Cross said it had taken 271 people to medical facilities around the capital and 27 were treated on the spot. Mwaura said the area had been “secured and there is now a command centre to help coordinate rescue operations and other intervention efforts.”
Two victims were injured in the incident. Photo: AP
“The whole building shook with a huge tremor, it felt like it was going to collapse. At first we didn’t even know what was happening, it was like an earthquake,” James Ngoge, who lives opposite where the fire broke out, told AFP news agency.
Huy Hoang (according to AP, AFP, Reuters)
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