At least 53 people died when an oil pipeline operated by Kenya Pipeline Co. leaked fuel into a slum in eastern Nairobi, causing an explosion, police and ambulance officials said. More than 100 people may have died in the blast that occurred at Mukuru, about 11 kilometers (7 miles) east of the city center, Fred Majiwa, a spokesman for St. John’s Ambulance, said in a phone interview today. The blast occurred after oil leaked from a broken valve on the pipeline and drained into Mukuru, where people gathered to scoop up the fuel, a spokesman for Kenya Pipeline said in a phone interview. “I was at Kenyatta Hospital myself and am able to confirm seven are dead,” Majiwa said. “At the scene of the explosion, we were represented by one of our workers and it was confirmed to me it could be more than 100. Some of them are burned beyond recognition.” Kenya’s worst petroleum accident occurred in January 2009, when 94 people died after a gasoline tanker burst into flames at Molo in the Rift Valley province, about 167 kilometers northwest of Nairobi. Kenyan police are working to ascertain the death toll in the latest incident, spokesman Eric Kiraithe said. “I have spoken to an officer on the ground and he has told me they have confirmed 53 dead,” Kiraithe said by phone from Nairobi. “There is not much more he can say because they are struggling with the situation.” Kenya Pipeline will hold a press briefing later today on the blast, the company spokesman said. To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah McGregor in Nairobi at smcgregor5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net

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