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The proprietor of the Embakasi gas project which exploded leaving six people dead and over 300 other nursing serious injuries and three officials of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) have been detained until today when the court will rule on their bail terms.

Derrick Kimathi, the three NEMA officials Joseph Kamau, David Walunya Ong’are and Marrian Mutete Kioko who appeared before magistrate Dolphina Alego were not charged after the DCI filed an application seeking 21 days to continue detaining them to enable detectives complete the probe into the incident.

“The court is pleased to issue a custodial order that the four suspects be detained for 21 days from today at Embakasi police station in Nairobi to allow Chief Inspector Isack Tenai, an investigator attached at DCI Parklands complete investigations on the matter,” reads the court papers.

The police say they are investigating Kimathi and his co-suspects for various offences of murder, conspiracy to commit a felony and negligent act causing harm following an explosion that occurred within the premises of Maxxis Energy Nairobi Ltd in Embakasi Sub-county on the night of February 1, 2024.

Led by two senior state prosecutors namely Dorcas Rugut and James Gachoka, Chief Inspector Tanai who is the leading investigator disclosed that the four are being investigated for the offences of murder, conspiracy to commit a felony, negligence of duty and abuse of office contrary to the law.

Urging the court to detain the suspects for 21 days, he said the incident being investigated is a matter of great public interest and a national disaster.

He told the magistrate that before the suspects were arrested on February 5, 2024 they had gone into hiding. “Police need time to record statements from relatives of the six-deceased person’s and the injured persons who are traumatised and undergoing treatment in various city health facilities,” said Gachoka.

He said the respondents are alleged to have committed the offences within a span of four years between January 1, 2020 and February 2, 2024 at Maxxis Energy Nairobi Limited within Embakasi sub county in Nairobi

While seeking the detention orders, police say that the investigations into the deadly explosion are complex as there is a likelihood of more bodies to be recovered from the debris and more victims are still turning for the report and statement recording.

“The multiple motor vehicles wreckage and LPG refilling plant equipment that were involved in the explosion have not been identified due to the complete damage occasioned by the incident,” Tenai told the court.

The officer further sought to continue holding Kimathi and the three Nema officials saying that several buildings and structures were damaged and an assessment has not been done as the scene is yet to be declared as safe.