Scores killed as petrol pipeline blast rips through Nairobi

A Nairobi official says at least 61 bodies had been recovered after an explosion of a petroleum pipeline running through an informal settlement in Kenya’s capital.

Provincial Commissioner Njoroge Ndirangu said he believed the death toll from Monday’s blast would rise.

Richard Lisiyampe, who heads Kenyatta National Hospital, said at least 112 burn victims had arrived and the facility was is urgent need of blood donors.

A reporter for the Associated Press saw charred bodies scattered throughout the remains of burning shacks for nearly 300m around the site of the explosion.

Some were also floating in a nearby river filled with sewage.

Other residents say they had jumped into the river after catching fire. There had been homes built right up to the pipeline, the residents said.—Sapa-AP