Kenyan Fires Dubbed National Disasters

By: Mike Bozee

Well over 100 people in Kenya have died due to recent fires. There were at least 25 casualties in a supermarket fire in Nairobi. The larger disaster consisted of a petrol tanker explosion that killed upwards of 111 Kenyans. These people, unfortunately, were gathered around in tanker trying to collect spilled fuel when the fire broke out. It has been pointed out that poverty is a contribution issue, since the people were desperately trying to save the fuel, despite potential physical danger. Kenyan authorities have been blamed, in that these tragedies were results of failure to address public safety. In addition, the emergency response system in Kenya has been criticized, since medical teams were slow to arrive at the scenes and offered inadequate care to the casualties. These two fires, occurring within a week's span, are being described as national disasters.