Witnesses near the scene where a LPG tanker overturned on Outer Ring Road, Nairobi, on June 3, 2024.
For primary witnesses of the Fedha LPG tanker explosion Monday afternoon, things would have taken a different turn had the driver of a 14-seater matatu hearkened to their calls not to ignite his vehicle moments after gas started leaking from the overturned lorry on Outer Ring Road.
Here, Nation.Africa uses witness reports to piece together the last 15 minutes before tragedy struck.
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According to witnesses, at around 12:16pm, all was going on as usual at the Fedha bus stop on the busy Outer Ring Road. Vendors were going about their business at roadside kiosks. Matatu drivers honked horns while conductors called out to customers to board their vehicles.
Five minutes later, an LPG tanker took a left turn from Outer Ring Road and headed to the service lane next to Fedha bus stop. This bus stage borders the Pipeline Railway Station where commuters board the train to the city centre every day. To get to the service lane, a vehicle has to cross over a railway line and make a right turn.
This manoeuvre, however, did not work out as the tanker’s driver had planned. The huge vehicle got stuck at the railway line.
“When the tanker hit the railway line, smoke started billowing from the vehicle and very quickly, we realised it was a gas leak. The driver told everyone to move away from the area and we scampered for safety,” a security guard at the railway station told Nation.Africa.
Business owners in the vicinity shut down their premises immediately and left.
At 12:25, a 14-seater matatu approached the area where the LPG tanker had gotten stuck. The driver and the conductor soon realised there was danger and quickly alighted the matatu leaving it a few metres away from the tanker.
But after initially walking away, the matatu driver appeared to change his mind about leaving the vehicle. Slowly, he started moving back towards his matatu.
A video clip shot by witnesses shows the man walking back as witnesses urge him not to.
The driver seems unsure about his next move for a few seconds, but then makes the decision to board the matatu. This was at around 12:30pm.
For several seconds, the driver sat still inside the matatu. It did not move.
A minute later, he appears to have made up his mind and ignited the car. It did not take long.
A very loud bang reverberated through the entire area after that. The LPG tanker exploded and, in the process, destroyed the matatu, leaving only a shell behind.
'We knew it would happen'
“We knew something bad was about to happen. Immediately we saw him walking to the matatu, we retreated from the place. We just knew it would explode,” a vendor identified as Ken, told Nation.Africa.
Ken, like three other roadside clothes vendors, lost his stock in the fire. It had not occurred to him that the fire would spread to his business located about 30 metres from the explosion scene.
For a few moments, no one knew the fate of the driver. Later, he emerged from the inferno. He was badly injured — burns covered his entire body. His clothes had been singed off his body by the fire. Still, he mustered some energy to escape the scene of the blast. In a video seen by this reporter, he can be heard asking witnesses for help.
“Nisaidieni! Nisaidieni! (Please help me! Please help me!” he said in pain.
From the videos, no one moved to his rescue, perhaps alarmed by his horrific injuries. Some even ran away from him, while other continued to record the aftermath of the explosion on their mobile phones.
By this time, a major traffic jam had built up on the entire stretch of Outer Ring Road.
Later, Embakasi Sub-County Commander, Wesley Kimetto, said no death had been recorded and that one person was serious injured — the matatu driver. He was rushed to hospital by an emergency response team and is currently receiving treatment.
“We have closed off the road and evacuated people...we are preventing curious onlookers from moving close to the scene for safety reasons. We cannot risk anyone going close until the fire is totally put out,” he said at the time.
There was heavy police presence in the area until the shells of the LPG tanker and the 14-seater matatu were towed away at 3:41pm and 3:57pm respectively.
Déjà vu
The incident comes barely four months after another gas-related explosion not too far from today's scene.
In February, a gas refilling plant exploded in Mradi village, Embakasi, just three kilometres away. The February explosion claimed the lives of at least 12 people.
