Update on the fuel explosion in Sinai slum, Nairobi, Kenya
Monday, September 12, 2011 will forever be etched in the minds of many Kenyans. As the country settled into a new week, residents of the informal Mukuru Sinai settlement in Nairobi’s Industrial Area woke up to what many of them deemed a windfall as one of the Kenya Pipeline Company’s oil pipes was leaking and oil was following freely onto the nearby Nairobi River and surrounding sewer trenches. Residents of this area are mostly casual labourers at the industrial area and income is not always guaranteed; so when the oil spilled, many of them saw this as an opportunity to make money and supplement their meager income by collecting the fuel for sale. Armed with all manner of containers and sponges and oblivious to the danger that lay ahead, the residents set out to collect oil from a sewage trench whose mouth was the entry point of the estimated 100,000 litres of super petrol that leaked from the pipeline.
Roseline Wangui’s Story
“I woke up that morning as usual and started my house chores. I prepared breakfast for my husband and after a hearty meal; he prepared to leave the house. He told me that he was going to the nearby storm drainage to collect oil that he would later sell so that we would get money to buy us food for the next couple of days. Every so often when the Kenya Pipeline Company was cleaning out its oil storage tanks, he would go and collect the oil and sell it, so there was nothing unusual about his statement that morning. He carried along with him a sponge and a plastic container. That was the last time I saw him. Shortly after that, I heard three loud blasts and knew that something was very wrong. I stepped out of the house and once outside, I saw people running in all directions; my flight response went into full gear. I did not know where I was going; all I knew is that I had to get to safety for my sake and that of my unborn baby. A few hours later, everything in sight was razed to the ground and all our possessions had gone up in flames. There were so many emotions running through me that I did not know whether to cry, scream or wail. It then hit me that I had not seen my husband after the fire, so I started to look for him in the growing crowd that had gathered close to where I was standing. It has been one long fruitless search since then. I have been to various hospitals and mortuaries but found nothing. The thought that he might actually be dead is one I do not want to entertain.”
82 people died at the scene of the fire.
Emergency Response
Minutes after the explosion emergency response units arrived at the scene to put out the fire and begin the rescue efforts. Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Kenya’s largest referral hospital, was overwhelmed by the number of burn patients brought to the hospital. The hospital admitted a total of 112 patients, many of them with 30% burns over their bodies. By Wednesday morning, the hospital had run out of important supplies like gloves, bandages, gauze, IV fluids, skin graft blades and knives needed to manage the large number of patients. 38 patients succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment.
A Helping Hand
The pictures and stories splashed by the media after the fire aroused a lot of sympathy from Kenyans and the international community. Many people pledged to help those affected in various ways. The Kenyan government appealed to the public for blood donations to help those admitted at the Kenyatta National Hospital and 5,000 units of blood were donated. AMREF has a long standing relationship with the hospital and has helped in other emergency situations, such as the 1998 bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi and the ongoing VVF Clinic facility, and offered to help.
Blood Drive
AMREF offered professional bleeding services in liaison with the Kenya National Blood Transfusion Centre, coordinated by AMREF’s staff doctor, Dr Omar Said. Three laboratory technologists, one from the AMREF Central Lab and two others from AMREF’s Kibera Health facility were requested to join Kenyatta National Hospital staff team in the bleeding exercise. On Wednesday, September 14, laboratory technologists from AMREF were sent to the centrally located scene of the 1998 US Embassy bombing, where a tent was pitched for the blood transfusion exercise. Zipporah Momanyi, a phlebotomist from the AMREF lab, says that she was glad to be one of the people that volunteered her services for the sake of this worthy cause. Together with phlebotomists Joyce Wanjohi and Wycliffe Otieno, also from AMREF’s Kibera centre, they worked hand in hand with a joint team of ten staff from the Red Cross and the National Blood Transfusion Centre and bled a total of 450 clients in the three-day exercise. Members of the AMREF family participated by giving blood. Kennedy Odhiambo was among the AMREF members of staff who turned out to donate blood. “It has always been a passion of mine to donate blood to those that need it, and I always make sure that I do so every year,” he said. He further added that he wishes that everyone would do the same, because you just never know, it could be you that needs help next time.
Inner Healing
AMREF sent five counsellors from the Kibera clinic to assist those affected with psychosocial counseling at the Tom Mboya Social Hall, where some of the 164 families that lost their homes in the fire are currently being housed. Nelly King’oi, one of the counselors from AMREF, says that it has not been easy. The emotional and psychological scars that have been left behind are insurmountable. Nelly says that the stories from the victims of the fire were so overwhelming, that she also felt the need to be debriefed. She says that during some of the counseling sessions, she felt like leaving the room and crying her eyes out before she could continue. With about 400 men, women and children who still need to be attended to, she admits that they still have a long way to go. The victims of the fire were not the only people that needed counseling from Nelly and her team. The Red Cross team directly involved in the critical rescue efforts were also using the counseling services.
James Mwangi* (*not his real name) was one of the Red Cross volunteers involved in the immediate rescue efforts. He says that despite the fact that he had been trained on what to expect during a disaster, he was not quite prepared for what he encountered that day. He recounts an instance where he went into a shell of what used to be a house to check whether there were any bodies and found the almost ashen bodies of two people who seemed to have died while holding onto each other. He decided to try and detach them before they could be taken to the mortuary but as he was trying to do this, one of the bodies split open, exposing the insides. He says that he had to leave, as the scene really got to him. Through the counseling that he received from the AMREF counselors, he says that he was able to feel better, but he acknowledges that it will be a long while before those images can be completely purged from his memory.
Medical and Surgical Support
AMREF, through the Outreach Program headed by Dr Johnson Musomi, was called upon by KNH to assist in the provision of basic medical and surgical supplies urgently needed to manage the burns and facilitate surgery. The hospital also requested for more reconstructive and general surgeons to assist the KNH team in serving patients in need of surgery. AMREF supplied the hospital with IV fluids, wound dressing materials including gloves, cotton wool, gauze and bandages, skin graft blades and knives, facemasks, and disposable aprons among other things. AMREF has also hired two reconstructive surgeons, four general surgeons, six nurses and two anesthetists to support the KNH team bringing the total cost of AMREF’s support to US $38,000. Phillips Pharmaceuticals had previously donated drugs to AMREF to aid people affected by the ongoing drought, but due to the urgency of the fire disaster at Sinai, AMREF redirected the drugs to help the fire victims by donating the drugs to KNH, where they will be used to help treat the affected patients.
Appreciation
KNH’s management, through its Board Director Lawrence Omire expressed sincere gratitude for the invaluable support that AMREF has offered the hospital during this difficult time. “This hospital is humbled by AMREF’s fast response and promptness to our request and this has gone a long way in saving more lives. I would like to appreciate AMREF in a very special way,” said Mr. Omire. Mr. Omire was speaking during a courtesy call to the hospital led by AMREF in Kenya’s Country Director Dr. Lennie Bazira Kyomuhangi on Tuesday, September 20. Dr. Kyomuhangi was accompanied by AMREF’s Outreach Manager Dr Johnson Musomi and Margaret Esakwa. Dr. Kyomuhangi said that it was the least that AMREF could so in such a short time and expressed her gratitude to AMREF USA and the Flying Doctors’ Society of Africa (FDSA) for their speedy response in availing funds to make this happen.
Out of the 112 patients admitted to the hospital on Monday, September 12, 38 succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment; 39 have been discharged and 35 are still admitted at the hospital’s Burns Unit.
>>Learn more about the work AMREF is doing in response to the drought in Kenya.
