Petroleum industry press release on the LPG tanker explosion at Miradi Embakasi

We wish to convey our condolences to the families of those who have departed following the LPG Tanker explosion that occurred on Thursday 1st February 2024, at around 11:30 pm, at Miradi area, in Embakasi, Nairobi County. Further, we also wish a quick recovery to the 165 Kenyans so far that are injured and hope that those whose property destroyed will also recover from this economic loss as well.

Following our visit at the site soon after the explosion and early this morning we have established that this is the same site where a criminal case was instituted against the proprietor of this facility and some of his clients on the 9th of November 2020 under criminal case number E3776/2020 at Milimani law courts in Nairobi.

All the accused persons were found guilty and convicted with a sentence issued on 18(h of May 2023. Despite guidance from the High Court on the mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison or a penalty of KShs 10,000,000 (Ten million), the learned Magistrate of Court Number 11 imposed total fines of KShs. 500,000 or a one-year imprisonment instead of KShs. 20,000,000 or 5 years for the proprietor (first accused) and a fine of KShs. 50,000 for the second accused instead of a fine of KShs. 10,000,000 or 5 years.

The learned Magistrate continued to release all motor vehicles including two LPG tankers together with the confiscated LPG bulk with a net weight of 4,660 kgs despite the law providing for mandatory forfeiture. One of the LPG Tankers unprocedurally released by the Courts was registration number ZC 1286 which is one of the tankers involved in this incident.

Despite the above actions and convictions, the proprietor continued operating the illegal storage and refilling facility without even the bare minimum safety standards and qualified LPG personnel as required by law leading to this unfortunate catastrophe which could have been avoided should the letter and spirit of the law have been followed.

With foregoing, we can factually state with great concern that this explosion occurred on what is an illegal LPG refilling and storage site that is situated in a densely populated residential area — in contravention with the Petroleum Act 2019 LPG Regulations Legal Notice 100 (LN 100). Suffice it to note, is that this illegal site had been demolished on two (2) occasions after having been found to be carrying out illicit refilling of LPG cylinders belonging to other licensed brand owners.

We wish to inform the public that the LPG storage and refilling plants of the Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA) members’ facilities remain safe as great care is taken to ensure adherence to high safety standards as stipulated within LN 100. LPG is a safety sensitive clean cooking solution and as such investments in safety protocols of cylinders, LPG storage, refilling and transportation are non-negotiable in the interest of consumer safety.

We wish to caution the public from purchasing their LPG cylinders from distributors and retailers who do not issue them Cth a receipt that should as a minimum contain; date of purchase, name and contacts of the retailer, LPG brand name and cylinder serial number.

PIEA will continue to share intelligence with EPRA and other Regulators for their action to prevent incidences such as this from recurring and particularly the needless loss of life due to the unwillingness to fully enforce the law.

We wish to thank the police and fire departments for their quick response to the incident site that mitigated further damage and we also appreciate the Kenya Red Cross and St. John’s Ambulance for having quickly set up a tent for first aid and victim tracing.