The explosion of an overturned tanker could be felt for miles, and the moments that followed haunted survivors: People ablaze, their clothes burned off, running to the bush in a futile effort to escape the pain and begging for help, according to AP. More than 100 people were killed, and another 200 injured in the inferno overwhelmed hospitals Sunday, where victims lined the floors, hooked to drips and moaning in pain. Authorities expected the death toll to rise and were searching the scorched woods for corpses. Hundreds of impoverished people had flocked to the overturned tanker Saturday to siphon fuel when it exploded, likely sparked by a cigarette. «Everybody was screaming and most of them were running with fire on their bodies, they were just running into the bush,» said Charles Kamau, 22, who was driving through Molo on Saturday night when he saw the road blocked by hundreds of people with gerry cans, plastic bottles and buckets _ anything to siphon some free fuel. The explosion was one of this East African nation's deadliest accidents, and highlighted the desperation of people living in the poorest continent in the world. «Poverty is pushing our people into doing desperate things just to get through one more day,» Prime Minister Raila Odinga said at a hospital in Nakuru, near Molo. The government sent extra body bags and medical supplies to the area by helicopter, along with more doctors for the overwhelmed hospitals, where some victims were lying on floors. One child, who appeared to be around 10, was sitting dazed in a wheelchair with burns covering his face and body. Similar blasts are common in Nigeria, where people tap gas pipelines to pilfer fuel for cooking or resale on the black market. In 2006, a gasoline blast killed 200 people in Nigeria. The Kenyan government has been criticized for poor safety regulations recently. Nearly 30 people died Wednesday when a massive fire swept through a supermarket in downtown Nairobi. Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said the country was enduring a time of tragedy. «Everybody is in shock, with the fire coming as it does just days after the other blast,» he said as he toured the scene in Molo.
