A family in Western Kenya is mourning the death of its three members who passed away while syphoning fuel from an overturned tanker.
A report by Nation on Monday, December 27, indicated that the incident occurred on the night of Sunday, December 26, along the Eldoret - Malaba Road.
The three passed away after inhaling the toxic petrol fumes from the overturned tanker.
Confirming the incident, Lugari Sub County Police Commander, Benard Ngungu, noted that the three were part of a crowd that rushed to the accident scene for the high-value commodity.
"Last night, we were forced to use teargas to disperse a crowd that was surging around the tank containing petrol.
"It is unfortunate that life has been lost through such an incident. Kenyans must learn and always keep off such scenes," stated the police commander.
The incident occurred at around 07:30pm. Bodies of the deceased were transferred to Kimbilio Hospital mortuary.
This comes as accidents spike over the festive season including separate crashes on Saturday, December 25, that claimed 11 individuals.
In one of the accidents, which occurred along Mombasa - Nairobi Highway, 7 people lost their lives including a nuclear family of four.
In mid-December, police launched a nationwide operation owing to the spike in the number of road accidents.
The law enforcement officers noted that the number of road carnages had increased in December with the most affected category being boda boda operators.
To contain the situation, NPS vowed to collaborate with all commuters and drivers to ensure that cases of road accidents are reduced.
"Note that our officers will ever be present to offer any assistance as they ensure compliance with the rule of law. We thus appeal for maximum cooperation from the members of the public in reducing the number of road carnage," police stated at the time.
