Kenya declares national mourning for fire victims - The Kenyan government Tuesday declared a two-day  national mourning for over 100 people burnt to death following a burst oil pipeline located in a crowded residential area as an independent investigator was being sought.

Kenya’s Special Programmes Ministry, tasked with disaster monitoring and preparedness, said it was looking for an independent investigator to determine the cause of the fire which occurred near a deport belonging to the state oil company.

Andrew Mondo, the Special Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, said the government would appoint an independent probe team.

“It will not be an internal department within the government,” Mondo said, indicating that government was registering the victims of the fire.

At least 300 people have been earmarked to receive government aid after the fire.

Mondo said the government would set up a committee to determine those eligible for the government aid, including rent payment for at least a year.

The Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC) head Silest Kilinda, however, remained defiant, saying the oil company cannot be held responsible for the fire because it did everything possible to avert a disaster by closing all pumping operations.

“We will not take responsibility. We did our best to stop the fire,” Kilinda told a news conference in Nairobi.

“A gasket in a valve gave way, caused by a fault which we have not determined and which is what we are still investigating. We cannot tell you the exact cause of the pressure on the pipeline,” Kilinda said.

The pipeline, pumping some half a million litres of petrol an hour, let off at least 10,000 litres into the slum, causing the huge explosion which spread through the slum about six minutes after the incident occurred.

A local television station, NTV, reported that Chinese engineers who were doing repair works at a pumping station near the Sinai Slums, opened one of the pipes where some gasoline spewed and into the open drainage system passing through the slums.

“Nobody could open the valves and still remain alive,” Kilinda said.

The pipeline official said only investigators and insurance firms could be allowed to inspect the burst pipeline.

Meanwhile, Medical Services Minister Anyang Nyong’o said the national hospitals faced a shortage of nurses required to deal with the national emergency.

Nyongo said the government required at least 150 extra nurses and extra-personnel to effectively offer medical assistance to the victims.

Pana 14/09/2011