One Killed After Petrol Tanker Goes up in Flames in Lamu

One person has died while another sustained serious injury after a container carrying petrol caught fire in Mokowe Jetty, Lamu County.

According to reports, the fire which broke out at mid-morning on Friday caused the death of a form three student.

Mokowe Jetty Offloaders Association Chairman Mohamed Athman Yusuf revealed that the student who died was the son of the container.

Speaking on the incident, an eyewitness noted that the fire was caused by a generator, which was being used to pump petrol from a lorry to the container.

The pump is then stated to have released sparks which eventually caused the explosion.

The 36-year old injured man is said to have been taken to King Fahad County Hospital.

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Mr Yusuf stated: “A lorry had come from Mombasa to Mokowe with petrol. When it was connected to the container to pump the petrol into the drums, a generator which is normally used to run the pump produced some sparks which resulted in the container blowing up.

“The one who died was inside the container together with his assistant. We tried to put out the fire but it overwhelmed us,” he concluded.

Expressing his distress Mr Abdalla Omar accused the Lamu County Government for not responding to the tragedy in time.

“The county hasn’t responded up to now. It is unfortunate that we are left on our own on this. We expected them to bring a fire engine but we haven’t seen any,” Omar lamented.

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