Kenya gas explosion kills at least three and injures nearly 300

A vehicle loaded with gas exploded and set off an inferno that burned homes and warehouses in Kenya

A gas blast in Kenya has killed three people and injured more than 270 others.

A vehicle loaded with gas cylinders exploded and set off an inferno which tore through homes and warehouses in Nairobi, the country's capital, shortly after 11pm on Thursday.

Hundreds of residents in the Embakasi neighborhood were likely inside their homes when the explosion happened, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said in a post on X.

Police and the Kenya Red Cross reported three deaths, but the toll is expected to rise after daybreak, Wesley Kimeto, the Embakasi police chief said.

The government and Red Cross said 271 people were taken to several hospitals with injuries.

Local resident Caroline Karanja and her family fled the explosion and said police cordoned off the entire area.

“Police were turning away everyone and so it was difficult to access my house and I had to seek a place to sleep until this morning,” she said.

Ms Karanja added that the smell and smoke were choking, and she would have to stay away for a while because she had young children.

At the scene, houses and shops are charred. The roof of a four-storey residential building about 200 metres from the scene of the explosion was broken by a flying gas cylinder.

The vehicle believed to have started the explosion was tossed on its side, and only the shell remained on the road.

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