Jump to full article: Reuters, 2009-02-02
Author: REUTERS
Intro: Kenya began a week of mourning on Monday for at least 142 people who died in a petrol tanker blaze and another fire in a Nairobi supermarket that have brought a torrent of criticism of poor disaster preparedness.
Flags flew at half-mast and official functions were put on hold as rescuers continued to pull charred bodies from both disaster sites and relatives hunted for missing people.
In one of Kenya's worst accidents of recent times, at least 115 people died when a crowd scrabbling for free fuel crowded round a tanker that crashed near central Molo town Saturday. The toll rose by nine from deaths overnight in hospital.
A cigarette set off the blaze, engulfing the crowd in flames, and also leaving nearly 200 people injured. . . .
Most officials said a cigarette caused the Molo blaze.
Some witnesses said a man angered at being stopped by police from scooping petrol threw a cigarette butt on the ground deliberately.
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