Kenya Mourns Double Tragedy That Killed 136

Grieving kin blame poor emergency response in 2 fires

By Ambreen Ali, Newser User

Posted Feb 2, 2009 6:23 AM CST

(Newser) – Kenyans are blaming the government for poor public safety and emergency response as they mourn the loss of 136 people in back-to-back fires at a Nairobi supermarket and on a rural highway. Emergency crews were slow to respond to yesterday's fuel tanker explosion, which came as they were still searching rubble from the market fire three days earlier, the BBC reports. "There was no response by any disaster team because there is no such team," said Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

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A badly burned child is rushed to a hospital in Nakuru, Kenya, after an overturned petrol tanker exploded. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

Relatives await of news of their loved ones in Nairobi after 25 died in a massive fire that swept through a downtown supermarket. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi)

Kenyans transport a burn victim, injured in an explosion after a gasoline tanker overturned, to a national hospital. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi)

A burned petrol tanker lies on its side on Molo Road several hours outside of Nairobi, Kenya. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

Badly burned people receive treatment in Nakuru Provincial Hospital in Nakuru, Kenya, after the tanker fire. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

Kenyan Red Cross workers remove bodies from Nakumatt supermarket following the first large fire, in Kenya in recent days. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi)

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Burn victims overwhelmed hospitals in Kenya after an overturned gas tanker exploded as hundreds of people were trying to scoop up free fuel. (AssociatedPress)

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It is so unfortunate that we have lost many people in two tragedies in less than a week. - George Saitoti, Kenyan interior minister

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Kenya Mourns Double Tragedy That Killed 136