15 people have been confirmed dead with several others injured in Malanga village in Gem constituency when a fuel tanker burst into flames engulfing the people who attempted to siphon fuel from the oil tanker that was involved in an accident along the Kisumu Busia highway in Siaya district.
Charred human bones covered with leaves were all over the shell of the fuel tanker as residents came to terms with the tragedy. Burnt clothes, shoes and the jerrycans they were using lay metres away from the tanker. Burnt grass covering a large area indicating the painful ordeal the victims of the fire went through was also evident.
Before the fire, residents armed with jerry cans had started syphoning oil from the tanker, despite caution from its driver in what has now become characteristic of Kenyans who have never drawn lessons from previous incidents including the one in Sachangwan tragedy that killed 111 people and hundreds in Molo on the busy Nakuru-Eldoret highway on January 31, 2009.
Area MP Elisha Odhiambo and Siaya Senator James Orengo visited the scene this morning and announced that families affected explosion will get Sh50,000 aid from the national government.
