Nairobi: Over 100 people have been killed in a petrol pipeline explosion and fire in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, police and rescue workers said.
AFP quoted a police spokesman Thomas Atuti as saying, “We estimate the number of dead at more than 100.”
Local reporters told the media they had counted more than 100 bodies after the blaze in the city’s Lunga Lunga area.
Firefighters were battling fierce flames that threatened a nearby shantytown, reports said.
The pipeline runs through a densely populated area between Nairobi’s city centre and the airport.
More than 80 casualties have been taken to hospitals, officials said.
An ambulance service spokesman said that many of the victims were burnt beyond recognition.
It is not known what caused the blast.
Police and troops have cordoned off the district, where residents said an earlier leak in the pipeline had prompted many people to rush and collect leaking fuel.
“Then there was a loud bang, a big explosion, and smoke and fire burst up high,” resident Joseph Mwego told the media.
There have been other deaths involving people collecting leaking fuel: More than 100 people died in Molo, western Kenya, in 2009 after a fire on an overturned tanker.
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