On the morning of July 18, 2021, this image was shared on Twitter claiming to show a scene from the exploded fuel tanker in Malanga, along the Kisumu-Busia highway. Referring to a tragic accident that occurred on July 17, 2021, this image shows what is alleged to be a cloud of dark smoke from the exploded tanker.
Background
July 17, 2021 left residents of Gem, Siaya county on a tragic note. An oil tanker rammed into a lorry in Malanga area, along the Kisumu-Busia highway. So far, the death toll has risen to 17, with 13 people dying on the spot and 4 succumbing to injuries while receiving treatment. To support the families affected by this incident, the government promised to offer a compensation of Ksh 50, 000. In addition, the bill of the hospitalised victims would be waived.
Piga Firimbi previously looked into false claims related to this incident. One debunking a fabricated quote alleged to have been said by Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa and supposedly published by Citizen TV, and another fact-check looking into a misleading video as published here and here.
Verification
A reverse image search shows this image was published on the CNN news website on June 28, 2018. The CNN article indicates that this explosion took place in Otedola Bridge, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The oil tanker crashed during rush hour, burning 54 cars.
Another result shows that this image was published by BBC on June 29, 2018, adding that over 9 people died from the incident.
A third result shows an article with the same image was published on June 28, 2018. This article features a Tweet with a video from this explosion.
A most recent accident involving a 12-feet container along the Otedola bridge was reported on July 18, 2021. This happened just about 3 months after another March 27, 2021 explosion that occurred along the same bridge. It involved two 45,000 liter diesel tankers that destroyed 6 other vehicles.
Verdict
NO, this image does not show the tanker explosion that occurred in Malanga, along the Kisumu-Busia Highway.
This story was produced by Africa Uncensored in partnership with Code for Africa with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.
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