Driver escapes death as tanker catches fire

KERICHO: A petrol tanker driver escaped death narrowly in Chebiril, Kericho County after a tanker he was driving bust into flames.

The Thursday’s incident, along Kisumu-Kericho highway saw hundreds of acres of sugarcane set ablaze by the inferno.

The locals watched helplessly as raging fire, which spilt over to their farms, gutted down their sugarcane plantations.

According to Edwin Kipkoror, an eye witness, the tanker’s tyres caught fire and alarmed the driver, forcing him to stop.

FARMERS’ HELP

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‘’With the help of farmers in a nearby sugarcane plantation the driver then detached the petrol tank from the rest of the vehicle and pushed it away from the fire,’’ he said.

The locals on hearing the news, rushed to the scene hoping to fetch petrol. The 1pm fire lasted for more than two hours, causing a traffic snarl up. Other motorists, however, risked their lives as they drove past the burning tanker.