‘Prime suspect’ in deadly Kenya gas blast appears in court

The main suspect in a deadly gas blast and blaze in a densely populated area of Nairobi has appeared in court in the Kenyan capital.

Six people died in the disaster and around 280 others were injured when a truck loaded with gas canisters exploded in the Embakasi neighbourhood of the city, late Thursday.

Derrick Kimathi, who police said rented the “illegal” gas depot where the disaster occurred, was escorted by police to a court in Nairobi Tuesday, wearing a black beanie and face mask.

His lawyer has previously said Kimathi would cooperate with the police but denied that he was operating the site where the blast took place as a gas filling plant.

Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had announced earlier the arrest of Kimathi along with three officials from the National Environment Management Agency (NEMA) who are accused of culpability over the tragedy.

In its statement on X, it described Kimathi as the “prime suspect” but gave no details about when or where the arrests of the suspects took place.

Officials from the National Environment Management Agency (NEMA) have been accused of wrongly giving a licence for the LPG filling and storage plant in such a densely populated area.

“Five other suspects are still at large and are wanted by the DCI to answer to their crimes that have caused untold physical and emotional suffering to fellow Kenyans,” the DCI statement said, accompanied by photographs of the suspects.

These include the manager of the site, another two NEMA employees, a truck driver, and another driver, it said.

According to local reports, Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson ordered the closure of all gas businesses operating in residential areas across the city.

President William Ruto, without mentioning NEMA, said at the weekend that licences had been wrongly issued for gas installations in residential areas “because of incompetence and corruption”.

Ruto said those responsible should be sacked and “prosecuted for the crimes they have committed”.

NEMA had said on Saturday that a company, Maxxis Nairobi Energy, had obtained a permit to operate a gas plant at the site in February last year. It said it had suspended four of its employees.

The huge inferno left a trail of destruction in the residential and industrial area, destroying vehicles, business premises and residential homes.

Embakasi has a population of about one million according to the 2019 census, and lies close to Kenya’s international airport.