I'll never go back to illegal oil trade, vows Nakuru fire victim

Joseph Ndegwa at Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital who sustained burn injuries after he was caught up by the Nakuru pipeline fire tragedy near a petrol station in what residents said was illegal fuel stores in the estate [PHOTO: BONIFACE THUKU]

NAKURU: Survivors of the Monday evening fire tragedy at Pipeline in Nakuru County have vowed never to go back to the illegal highway oil-siphoning business.

Samson Mwangi, who is admitted in ward seven at the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital in Nakuru, suffered 40 per cent burns, according to doctors.

The 28-year-old said he had just returned a pipe he and his crew had been using to illegally suck fuel tanks and containers from lorries on transit when he met the fire that almost ended his young life on Monday at around 4pm.

STORING FUEL

"I was carrying a pipe into a house we used to store the fuel. We were two in the room when the bulb in the house went off in what we thought was an electric fault. Suddenly, a ball of fire engulfed us and we scampered for safety.

"I ran out and a large crowd chased me carrying maize flour which they poured on me until the fire went off. I could have died," he said with a heavy sigh.

By the time the blaze was put out, Mwangi's legs had their skin burnt. His back was a pool of blood and his hands were melting.

"The apron I wore had burnt completely and I was just rolling on the floor, naked," narrated the father of two who hails from Nyahururu. Mwangi said he had been in the business for seven years and earned a lot of money.

Beside his bed is Joseph Ndegwa, 30, who was with Mwangi when the fire started.

Ndegwa sustained acute burns in his hands and face. Although only seven months into the oil trade, Ndegwa said he will never do it.

"I suspect the bulb that went out was the cause of the fire," he said.

Florence Ngoya, the ward nursing officer-in-charge, said Mwangi's situation still requires close supervision.

"The burns are acute and we have cut his skin to prevent compatible syndrome as a result of a swollen burned body," she said.