Kondele - Airport bypass closed after KPC pipe bursts, spills diesel in Kisumu

An oil spillage occurred on Thursday night from a burst pipe owned by the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) near Kanyamedha and Obunga slums causing panic and fear among residents.

The cause of the midnight incident on the main KPC line is still unknown, police authorities and those from KPC moved in swiftly to avert any dangers; the line was later turned off by KPC engineers.

Kisumu Central sub-county Deputy County Commissioner Hussein Alason Hussein said they cordoned off the Kondele- Kisumu airport bypass following the incident to prevent the public from accessing the scene.

Hussein said officers from the Kisumu fire fighting department were mobilized and are presently helping in the operation, adding that despite being not too highly flammable, diesel is still dangerous.

He said an excavator was also brought in to help prevent the spillage from getting into the nearby River Kisat and finally into Lake Victoria, where it would then endanger human and aquatic life.

The Deputy County Commissioner said it has not yet been established how many thousands of litres of fuel has been lost a result of the incident.