- Police said five other suspects are still at large and are wanted by the DCI to answer to crimes that caused untold physical and emotional suffering to fellow Kenyans.
- Kimathi was detained after he surrendered to police at Embakasi police station on Monday.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
The owner of the gas filling plant in Embakasi that exploded and killed at least six and injured more than 300 people has been arrested.
Derrick Kimathi was arrested alongside three senior officials at the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) Monday evening as the probe into the deadly blast goes on, police said.
The Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin said preliminary findings show the Nema officials who were found culpable are the ones in custody.
They were on Tuesday expected in court for miscellaneous applications to enable police to investigate the blast.
Kimathi was detained after he surrendered to police at Embakasi police station on Monday.
Police said five other suspects are still at large and are wanted by the DCI to answer to crimes that caused untold physical and emotional suffering to fellow Kenyans.
These include the site manager), two senior officers at Nema and the truck driver of the tankers that exploded.
The explosion happened on February 1, 2024, at around 11.30 pm, after a huge blast incident took place at the LPG gas refilling point situated at the Mradi area of Embakasi, Nairobi.
The LPG refilling site is rented by Kimathi and put under the management of another person the police say.
Several motor vehicles, business premises and residential houses were also destroyed by the harrowing inferno.
Police say the hunt for more suspects is ongoing.
Kimathi had earlier told police through a lawyer that he is in the business of transporting LPG products and that last year he made applications to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) to get a licence to operate a gas-filling plant in the area but the applications were rejected.
He also denied reports that the site where the incident occurred was an illegal gas plant stating that for years it had been a garage.
Police say the garage specialised in repairing only trucks transporting Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
The businessman argued that he shelved the idea after Epra rejected his applications on grounds that the site was not viable due to its closeness to the public.
Following the incident, the government announced a raft of measures to ensure compliance in the sector.
They include undertaking a fresh risk assessment for all LPG plants with the view of closing all non-compliant sites, demolishing all illegal sites, an immediate rollout of a government LPG growth strategy and strengthening the LPG data verification framework, among other measures.
Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said Sunday seven people are in critical condition at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH).
KUTRRH has seen a total of 27 patients, with eight already discharged and 19 currently under care, including 10 males, six females, and three minors.
KNH received 67 patients from the incident, with six in critical condition, suffering from severe burns.