A trailer burst into flames along the Busia-Malaba highway on Wednesday, February 4, after a gas cylinder exploded inside the drier’s cabin.
Witnesses revealed that the driver had fallen asleep while preparing a meal for himself while taking a break beside the road.
The gas had been on for a while before it exploded, engulfing the entire cabin in fire with the driver trapped inside.
First responders explained that the inferno had jammed the trailer’s locking system.
“The driver had locked the doors, which refused to open. We had to break in through the window to pull out the driver, lest he would have been burnt alive,” one witness stated.
They also managed to pull out the cylinder from the cabin. Efforts to quell the fire using soil and water proved futile as the fire kept burning.
Other drivers who parked in front of the trailer were asked to move their trailers to a safe distance to prevent the fire from spreading.
Bystanders faulted the police, the fire department and the county government for taking time to respond to the incident.
“We have waited almost one hour for the firefighters and 50 minutes for police officers, yet their station is not so far from here,” a witness commented.
The driver of the trailer has since been rushed to a nearby hospital, where he is receiving medical attention.
The incident comes barely weeks after another truck driver lost his life after an accident along the Southern Bypass in Nairobi.
