Worst fire accident in Kenya:
Toll rises to 111 from
The death toll from the oil tanker explosion in Molo has now risen to at least 110 people.
Rift Valley PC Hassan Noor said 91 bodies had been counted at the scene, while 20 more had been taken to the mortuary.
Kenya Red Cross says most of the over 100 dead were women and children, besides the men who rushed to the scene upon learning that an oil tanker had overturned along the road.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga and several Cabinet ministers including Internal Security minister George Saitoti, Public Health Minister Beth Mugo and Education minister Sam Ongeri and some Members of Parliament visited the scene this Sunday morning.
President Kibaki, currently in Ethiopia for the 12th African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government sent his condolences to those who had lost their loved ones.
Speaking at the accident scene, the Prime Minister condoled those who had lost their loved ones, while calling for mass education to ensure that such a tragedy do not recur.
"This is a terrible blow to the nation of Kenya," he said, adding that this was not was not the first time such an accident had occurred. He asked Kenyans to keep a safe distance from such accidents if it were to happen.
By Saturday midnight, the Red Cross said they had counted 91 bodies at the scene, and organisation’s head of disaster management, said the number could rise.
Three police officers are reported to be among those who perished in the fire as they tried to control the crowd who were siphoning off petrol from the oil tanker before it burst into flames near Molo town.
Many more sustained life-threatening burns in the explosion near Jolly Farm on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway at about 7.30 p.m, Saturday.
Relatives of missing persons can call +254 722300701 or contact Red Cross officials on the ground on +254 720 460 438 or +254 720 430455.
Body bags
Rift Valley PC Hassan Noor Hassan on Saturday said that he had ordered 150 body bags to the scene in case the death toll went that high.
Two hours after the fire started there had been no effort to put it out and a Sunday Nation writer could still see bodies burning away from a distance of about 50 metres.
The Nakuru Municipal Council’s fire engine arrived at the scene more than an hour after the explosion. Molo town has no fire engine.
Rescuers who rushed to the scene had been unable to move in and rescue the victims due to the intense heat.
Molo deputy police boss Daniel Kamanza told the Sunday Nation that he had counted 50 bodies of people who had burnt beyond recognition.
“The number could even be higher,” Mr Kamanza said.
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