A charcoal supplier in Trans Nzoia County on Wednesday morning escaped death by a whisker after one of his eight bags of charcoal caught fire while on transit.
The middle-aged man only identified as Makaa was transporting charcoal from the Kapkoy area in the Kwanza constituency when one of the bags he was transporting blasted into flames at Matisi trading centre along Kitale-Endebess road.
The supplier is said to have been rescued from the burning charcoal by those who were at the trading centre who rushed to the scene with water basins and buckets to put off the fire that was spreading to other bags of charcoal.
Joseph Wanyonyi, an eyewitness told K24 Digital that they were shocked to see smoke and flames coming from the motorbike forcing them to stop the businessman to find out what was happening.
“At first when we saw the smoke, we thought he (Makaa) was cooking while riding but on a close observation, we realized that his luggage had caught fire posing a huge risk to his life,” Wanyonyi said.
“Imagine what could have happened if this incident happened in a place where there are no people?” another eyewitness, Mwangi Gitonga posed.
Gitonga called on charcoal traders to be careful as such incidents can endanger their lives.
