One person was Friday arrested in connection with the Thursday night fire incident that has so far left three people dead and nearly 300 injured.
The arrested man is a security guard at Dadols Gas Refill station, the epicenter of the explosion.
The guard was apprehended by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
Three people were confirmed dead following the explosive fire incident that occurred in Embakasi’s Mradi area.
Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said the deceased died while undergoing treatment.
Mwaura added that 222 others were injured and have been rushed to various hospitals including 21 at the Kenyatta National Hospital and 160 at Mama Lucy General Hospital.
Some 19 others are at Mbagathi Hospital, 14 at Modern Komarock Hospital, and 8 at Nairobi West Hospital.
“One Lorry of an unknown registration number that was loaded with gas exploded, igniting a huge ball of fire that spread widely.
A flying gas cylinder hit Oriental Godown, burning down the said godown which deals with garments and textiles,” Mwaura noted in a statement.
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On the facility that caused the blast, the Energy Petroleum Regulatory Authority said applications for construction permits for a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage and filling plant at the site were received by EPRA on March 19, 2023, 20th June 2023, and 31st July 2023.
“All applications were rejected as they did not meet the set criteria for an LPG storage and filling plant in that area.”
EPRA said the main reason for the rejection was the failure of the designs to meet the safety distances stipulated in the Kenya Standard.
“EPRA noted the high population density around the proposed site and the applicant was requested to submit a Qualitative Risk Assessment indicating the radiation blast profiles in the unfortunate case of an explosion like the one that happened,” the statement said.
The blast profiles are simulated by use of computer software and indicate the effect of a typical blast in terms of heat radiation and tremor/vibration and are useful in reviewing the safety of the surrounding areas.
Further, the applicant never provided the requested QRA resulting in the rejection of the applications. Email correspondences providing reasons for the rejection were sent to the applicant.
”As the regulator, we have formulated short and medium-term measures to ensure the safety of all LPG plants in the country is guaranteed.
This is through actions such as undertaking detailed technical audits of all licensed LPG plants in the country to ensure high safety integrity status in terms of Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE).”
”Administrative actions are always taken to ensure that operating licenses for all plants rated below the high safety integrity status are revoked,” the statement added.
In addition, surveillance and enforcement actions are taken including demolishing illegal plants operating across the country and curbing malpractice in the sector.
This came as blame-game on the incident went on.
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