13 dead, 7 injured after fuel tanker explodes[Video]

Mwangi Gathanwa 08:30 - 18 July 2021

File image of a fuel tanker on fire

The fire started when someone unlocked the fuel compartment to speed up the siphoning of petrol.

13 people died on Saturday night after a tanker crashed and exploded in Malanga along the Kisumu-Busia road.

Gem OCPD Mosera Chacha said the victims were fetching fuel from the tanker when the explosion happened.

The tanker had collided with a lorry ferrying milk and landed on its side, after which the fuel started pouring.

13 people dead, 11 injured at Malanga on Kisumu-Busia Rd after overturned petrol tanker they were fetching fuel from explodes, Gem OCPD Moses Chacha says. https://t.co/DEv93N34qE Video courtesy pic.twitter.com/5afijIweaP
— Ali 'Mwamvita' Manzu (@Ali_Manzu) July 18, 2021

Members of the public took advantage and ran to siphon the petrol as it spilled out.

"The fire started when someone unlocked the tanker compartment to speed up the siphoning of petrol

“Another resident, realising the other compartment was closed and delaying them, opened it to enable them to siphon very fast before the police could arrive in the process it caused a spark and blew up," said Gem OCPD Mosera Chacha.