One person injured in explosion on oil ship in Mombasa
One person was injured on Tuesday in an explosion inside an oil ship docked near the African Marine Terminal in Liwatoni, Likoni.
The loud bang, which sent shockwaves to buildings up to two kilometres away, caused a fire that damaged parts of the vessel, christened East Wind II.
However, swift action by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) tugboats and fire engines, which immediately rushed to extinguish the fire, prevented further damage.
Confirming the incident, Mombasa Central Police OCPD Maxwel Agoro said preliminary investigations revealed that the explosion was caused by a buildup of gases in the oil tanks.
Tugs and fire engines from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) immediately rushed to extinguish the fire, while people at the scene were quickly evacuated by rescue teams. It was not immediately known if there were any casualties.
Mr Agoro said the vessel, christened East Wind II, had unloaded fuel in Zanzibar before docking in Mombasa.
According to the police chief, the injured person was rushed to Pandya Memorial Hospital.
Looking for an exit
"It is gas that has accumulated in the fuel cabin and wanted to escape. It's like when you have a container with fuel in it and after you unload the fuel and cover the container, even if it's empty, it will swell. In the process of looking for an exit, the gas didn't find one and that's when the explosion happened," he said.
People at the scene were quickly evacuated by emergency services.
A joint team of detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation, the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit and the Bomb Disposal Unit visited the scene to ascertain what had happened.
Witnesses said the explosion was accompanied by a fireball and black smoke.
A security guard at a building near the terminal said metal bars also flew into the air from the ship as members of the public scampered for safety.
Information from VesselFinder, an online provider of vessel tracking services, shows that the East Wind II is "an oil product tanker built in 2001 (22 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Gabon".
