Over a dozen fuel tankers were on Tuesday discovered to be ferrying water instead of fuel in Kisumu.
The Kenya Pipeline Company has since recalled all the 14 tankers that are said to have been mistakenly loaded with water instead of petrol at its plant in the lakeside city on Tuesday morning.
Depot manager Herman Amunga said all the trucks were recalled before offloading the water and that they[tankers] have responded positively after parameter checks
He added that they have launched investigations to establish the circumstances leading to the bizarre mix-up.
Amunga said the matter was taken seriously to protect members of the public from unadulterated fuel. He said other products were not affected.
He dispelled any cause for alarm saying KPC will give a detailed report after checks have been completed.
One of the trucks drivers, Abiud Jafar, said he noticed the mix up following a leak from one of the tanker’s compartments. He notified the depot managers who recalled all the 14 tankers.
Some of the drivers had traveled more than 50km before they were alerted to verify the contents of their trucks.
“I didn’t even realise that I was ferrying water instead of petrol. I was called when I was about to offload the product,” a driver was quoted.
KPC Managing Director, Joe Sang said in a statement: “Following this unfortunate incident, all the 14 trucks which had been loaded and left the station have been recalled. We immediately stopped loading from all the affected tank (28-TK-201). As at 1440hrs all the fourteen trucks that left, have come back and we are confirming the quality parameters before offloading. KPC would like to assure the public that all is under control.”
Detectives are likely to explore if there was an act of sabotage following the fuel crisis or a mere systems error at the Kisumu depot.
