- The owner of the house told police he was preparing food using a gas cylinder when it exploded.
- The reasons for the explosion at Machira flats are under probe, police said.
Image: The Star
A family escaped unhurt after a gas cylinder they were using for cooking exploded and caused a fire in Kware, Embakasi, Nairobi.
Police said the three family members managed to escape unhurt in the Wednesday night incident.
The fire caused damage to the house before it was contained.
The owner of the house told police he was preparing food using the cylinder when it exploded.
The reasons for the explosion at the home are under probe, police said.
Members of the public managed to put off the fire.
A team of police and officials from the Ministry of Energy visited the scene as part of investigations into the blast.
It is the latest one to happen in the city involving gas cylinders amid calls to address the menace of the safety of the equipment.
Last month, at least three members of a family were injured when a gas cylinder in their house exploded in the Kirima area, Kayole, Nairobi.
The victims aged 15, eight and three years sustained serious burns and were rushed to hospital following the incident, police said.
Neighbours said they heard a loud bang and on checking they found the house on fire.
In January this year, a woman was injured in a gas explosion in their house in Donholm.
In November 2023, at least four workers were injured in a gas cylinder explosion at a hotel in Nairobi’s South B area.
The explosion happened at the hotel at about 3.30 pm as the staff there were busy preparing food.
Some revellers who were present were injured but managed to escape the scene.
Several vehicles parked around the restaurant were damaged in the incident.
Police confirmed the explosion was caused by a gas cylinder that was apparently in use at the hotel.
In November last year, a woman was killed in a gas cylinder explosion incident in Eastleigh, Nairobi.
Four other people were seriously injured in the incident.
Doors were shattered, windows damaged and household goods turned upside down by the blast heard several meters away.
The findings of the probe into the incidents are yet to be made public.