By Patrick Kibet and Karanja Njoroge

Thousands of litres of petrol went to waste after a pipeline belonging to Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC) was damaged by a grader in Ngata area along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway.

Police and KPC employees arrived at the scene and cordoned off the area immediately to prevent members of public from siphoning the fuel.

Traffic along the busy Nakuru-Eldoret Highway was diverted and fuel pumping at Kenya pipe sub-station halted to reduce the spillage that went on for about three hours.

Motorists including transit trucks were forced to use the Njoro –Molo road while residents of Ngata and neighbouring areas had to alight from matatus and walk home from Njoro junction.     

 Rongai DC Joseph Motari said that he received reports at around 4pm that the pipeline had been damaged by a grader belonging to Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA which was constructing a feeder road in Ngata.

“We received information that the grader had damaged a pipeline transporting super petrol to Eldoret. We immediately rushed to the scene and managed to control members of the public from siphoning the fuel,” Motari said.

He urged members of public to keep off the fuel to avert unnecessary fire and added that enough security officers had been dispatched to the area.

Nakuru town experienced huge traffic snarl-ups after the section of the highway was closed and traffic diverted.

Rift valley PPO Francis Munyambu led a team of top security officers to inspect the damage and ensure the area was safe as KPC employees siphoned the spilled fuel.

Kenya Pipeline Company Nakuru Depot manager Xavier Baraza said they were informed by a good Samaritan that oil was flowing along the road and immediately organized an emergency team to cordon off the area.

He said they were still trying to establish the value of the fuel that went to waste during the incident though sources indicated it could into millions of shillings

“For now we are still trying to establish the value and that can only be possible at the end of the exercise,” he added.

He said the driver of the grader who disappeared immediately after the incident has not been traced.

Baraza also said he could not state how long the section of the busy road would remain out of public use as the emergency team was still trying to recover some of the fuel.