Derick Kimathi, the owner of the illegal gas filling plant that exploded on Thursday last week killing six people and injuring over 300 others in Embakasi has surrendered to the police.
Kimathi presented himself at the Embakasi Police Station on Monday, February 5 in the afternoon accompanied by his lawyer Wadungi Kirathe.
The gas plant proprietor is currently being grilled by Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) detectives over the Thursday night tragedy.
“He is still talking to the team handling the matter. We will know more,” Nairobi Police boss Adamson Bungei stated.
Kimathi is among the seven suspects being pursued by the police over the gas explosion. His partner Steve Kioko and the driver of the truck that caused the explosion are also being pursued.
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This comes a day after Kimathi’s lawyer, Wandungi said his client has not been operating a gas refilling station but as a motor garage.
The lawyer claimed that the truck that caused the Thursday explosion was trespassing on the premises without Kimathi’s consent.
“Our client had not been operating a gas filling operation on that premises. The premises, for the last few years, has been operating as a garage and until Thursday, it was still operating as a garage. The motor vehicle that caused this incident was trespassing into this property without his knowledge and consent,” Karathe claimed.
So far four National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) officials have been suspended over the incident.
The four include; the Director of Environmental Compliance, Acting Deputy Director Compliance, Head of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) section, and Senior Environmental Officer in the EIA section.
