A gas leak was reported following a grisly road accident involving a fuel tanker at Lesirwo area in Kericho County. The accident which occurred on Friday April 26, 2024, morning happened after the tanker which was transporting Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) overturned along the Londiani-Muhoroni Road.
Following the accident, gas started leaking around the area and even starting a fire causing panic among residents residing along the busy road.
It is reported that the driver of the vehicle which was transporting LPG gas from Mombasa heading to Kisumu lost control of the truck before it overturned.
Fortunately, no serious injuries or fatalities have been reported so far following the incident.
Police act after gas leak
The driver and other road users responded quickly and reported the incident to the Police who arrived at the scene minutes later and controlled the traffic flow.
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In response to the situation, police further reached out to the Kericho Fire Brigade to contain the potentially hazardous situation.
The Fire brigade swiftly responded to the incident, arriving minutes later, and managed to contain the fire.
Pictures seen by The Kenya Times showed smoke emanating from the already overturned lorry with no people nearby.
The accident is among a list of past similar incidents recorded on the same route that turned fatal and destructive.
Road Accidents in Kenya
The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) in a report earlier this month revealed that a total number of 7,198 Kenyans were involved in roads accidents between the start of the year and April 1, 2024.
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This was an increase of 1,908 compared to the same period last year, according to the Authority, where at least 1,189 people lost their lives from road accidents.
On the other hand, 3,316 were seriously injured and 2,693 suffered from minor injuries within the same period.
According to the statistics, pedestrians accounted for the highest fatalities this year at 436, followed by motorcyclists at 276 fatalities.
At the same time, NTSA noted that at least 255 passengers died in the period under review marking an increase compared to 211 last year.
Among the road crashes recorded this year was an accident involving a Mombasa bound Tahmeed bus and a fuel tanker along the Busia-Kisumu Highway.
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) in a joint statement on March 1, 2024, noted that lane indiscipline by tanker’s driver led to the fatal crash.
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