Fuel tanker explodes at Sachang'wan, forces Eldoret-Nakuru highway shutdown

A fuel tanker has exploded at Sachang’wan area, near Salgaa along the Eldoret-Nakuru highway, forcing the highway to be shut down.

The huge midnight explosion saw the night almost turned into day as a huge fireball lit up the dark night.

Videos of the incident went viral on social media as road users who were plying the busy road shared videos of the incident.

The Kenya Red Cross confirmed the incident at the Sachang'wan blackspot. A multi-agency team attended to two casualties and brought the fire under control.

"A fuel tanker exploded shortly after midnight at Sachangwan, along the Salgaa-Nakuru stretch of the Nakuru-Eldoret highway," Red Cross said on social media.

The explosion forced authorities to shut down the highway at the Kibunja and Solio interchange.

Footage circulating online shows flames and thick smoke rising into the dark sky, with other trucks and vehicles parked nearby under streetlights, watching the blaze unfold.

Sachang'wan sits on a notoriously dangerous stretch of the Nakuru-Eldoret highway.

The road carries heavy traffic daily, passenger vehicles, trucks and fuel tankers moving between the Rift Valley and western Kenya.

This latest incident has reignited painful memories of January 2009, when a fuel tanker overturned at the same spot and later caught fire.

Crowds had rushed to scoop spilled petrol from the truck. The resulting blaze killed more than 100 people, many burned beyond recognition.

That disaster remains one of Kenya's deadliest, and it resurfaces in public memory every time a similar incident strikes the same corridor.

Salgaa and Sachang'wan have long been accident hotspots. The terrain, heavy traffic volume and constant mix of commercial vehicles all add to the danger.

Efforts to improve the road, including dual carriageway plans in some sections, have been made over the years. Yet this stretch continues to draw attention each time tragedy strikes.