Kenya conducts mass burial for tanker fire victims

Feb 9, 2009, 14:24 GMT

Nairobi - Thousands of Kenyans on Monday attended a mass burial of over 100 people who died when fuel leaking from an overturned tanker caught fire and engulfed the crowds attempting to scoop up the leaking petrol.

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga joined mourners gathered around two mass graves dug a short distance from where the accident took place near the town of Molo.

At least 130 people died and around 200 were injured in the inferno, which broke out late on Saturday, 31 January.

The cause of the fire has not been determined, although witness reports suggest it either broke out when somebody lit a cigarette at the scene or when a man deliberately dropped a match after being prevented from collecting the spilt fuel.

The incident shocked Kenya, particularly as it came only a few days after a deadly supermarket fire in downtown Nairobi killed at least 26.

Serious criticism was levelled at the authorities in the wake of the disasters, with many saying that neither the response nor preventative measures were up to scratch.

Deadly tanker blazes are not uncommon in Africa, as impoverished residents scramble to collect fuel they can sell on.

Similar incidents have occurred in Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria in recent years, causing hundreds of deaths.