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File photo of a street in a Nairobi slum Ian West/PA Archive/Press Association Images

Dozens burned to death in petrol pipeline explosion

At least 40 bodies have been counted after the blast in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, according to reports.

AT LEAST 40 people have been burned to death after a petrol pipeline exploded in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

An Associated Press reporter has counted at least 40 dead bodies after the blast on the pipeline, which runs through the densely populated Embakasi slum.

The reporter counted the bodies scattered throughout the remains of burning shacks for nearly 300m around the site of the explosion. Some were also floating in a nearby river filled with sewage. Other residents say they had jumped into the river after catching fire. There had been homes built right up to the pipeline, the residents said.

Police say they are still counting bodies.

Earlier, a medical official said more than 80 people had been hospitalized after a gasoline pipeline running through a slum in the Kenyan capital exploded.

The number of people killed and the cause of Monday’s explosion are unclear.

Spokesman Fred Majiwa from St John’s Ambulance Service says that they have taken more than 80 people to hospitals around Nairobi. He says many victims are burned beyond recognition.

The pipeline runs through the heavily populated slum of Embakasi between the city center and the airport.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe says officers are at the scene but he had not yet received a report from them.

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7 Comments
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    Mute fleetingwhim
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    Jul 13th 2014, 7:26 PM

    This type of low paid insecure work is likely to become more and more common and the journal could really have taken a more critical look at it rather than putting out what is essentially an ad for the company. Cleaners with hassle get paid ‘up to €10′ an hour while the customer pays €12 making a tidy profit for the owners, but without them having to bear any of the responsibilities that normally come with being an employer – like paying employers’ PRSI or providing sick pay, holidays or maternity leave – and without the workers, who are effectively their employees having any of the rights, given that the website states it’s an ‘introduction service’ for self-employed cleaners. Despite this, its owners have no problem with indefinitely scalping at least a sixth of the value of these workers’ labour off them.

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    Mute Rob Mackey
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    Jul 13th 2014, 7:47 PM

    wtf are u talking about.. Are you trying to debate the business strategy of affliates ??
    Its capitolism, a simple finders fee.. whats wrong with that. €10 an hour is more than what some people have at the moment so quite literally the market will dictate whether they will have customers or not !

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    Mute Cian O Donoghue
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    Jul 13th 2014, 8:52 PM

    You miss the point of this company completely…. the cleaners aren’t employees anymore than the properties advertised on daft belong to daft.

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    Mute Sarah Taylor
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    Jul 13th 2014, 9:12 PM

    This isn’t just an ad for a business, there is actually an extremely valid business message there. Pick a niche and do it really well. This is one of the most increasingly important lessons that all businesses and especially start -ups can learn from.

    I love the way some people immediately can be so critical of anyone in business and the idea that if they run a business, they must be making loads of money for themselves simply through the exploitation of “the workers”. What about the ongoing time, effort and investment that the owners have put it in to get the business started and keep it going? As a business owner you don’t just wake up one day and magically have money coming into your bank account for zero time and effort.

    What exactly should The Journal have been more critical of? If there is a market for the service, then it will take off and many of the cleaners I’m sure will be making more than they are now, as Rob says. Presumably anyone already earning a good, “secure” living if such a thing exists anymore might not be inclined to sign up as a cleaner of the service, no one is forcing them. Unless of course they prefer the flexibility that this type of working arrangement may possibly bring them compared to other employment options they may have. Many people may actually be pretty happy to have this option open to them.

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    Mute Ian Mac Eochagáin
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    Jul 13th 2014, 9:24 PM

    In fairness, the article tells us nothing about how the cleaners earn their money and what sort of rights they have. It would be interesting to know, given that more and more people these days have to rely on precarious work. I have to agree with the original poster that the article does read rather like an ad for the company.

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    Mute Cian O Donoghue
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    Jul 13th 2014, 9:44 PM

    They earn their money by cleaning at an agreed rate per hour. They are self employed not employees. They have the same rights as any other sole trader.

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    Mute Stuart
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    Jul 13th 2014, 10:00 PM

    Well did Cian. Pretty sure Hailo doesn’t pay PRSI for their drivers, dictate annual leave etc. Some people really just love having a moan at any good news story. Ok cleaners aren’t millionaires but they choose to get into the game. It’s generally a very flexible form of self employment, very suitable for people with children in school and if anything, Hassle are bringing these people into the tax net (doing us all a favour). The modern young professional is much more comfortable using apps than yellow pages or even poorly laid out websites. This is simply supply meeting demand in a niche. Fair play and best of luck to them! This could be a European wide success story with a talented young Irish Woman at it’s heart.

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    Mute Sarah Taylor
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    Jul 13th 2014, 10:14 PM

    Ian, they can choose which jobs to accept and which not to. Therefore they can pick their own hours, their own work locations. The website provides a platform for them to advertise their own services. Interested customers can decide whether to avail of those services and the cleaners themselves can choose whether to provide services to particular customers or not.

    And in fairness, the article doesn’t look like it is meant to be about the rights and arrangements that the cleaners have with the company so why should The Journal focus on it? It seems like a pretty straight forward arrangement in any case, the details of which are not hard to find on the website for anyone who is interested. I personally clicked to read the article because of the business lessons alluded to in the headline. Fair enough the company will be getting a bit of publicity from having their name featured on here, but reading about other people’s business successes and failures is always a lot more interesting and meaningful when you know the name and details of the business itself.

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    Mute fleetingwhim
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    Jul 14th 2014, 12:12 AM

    Do landlords advertising properties on daft have to continue to pay daft at least a sixth of their monthly rent? that’s what the workers in this case will have to do. It’s not just a ‘finder’s fee’, it’s continuing exploitation.

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    Mute Rob Mackey
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    Jul 14th 2014, 5:24 PM

    Well estate agents do.. ? whats your point !!

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    Mute mcbab
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    Jul 13th 2014, 8:06 PM

    It’s a really good idea suiting both people who want to work as a cleaner doing whatever hours best suits them and people who want to have their home cleaned on an irregular basis, perhaps when ill and unable to do it themselves. Wishing them well.

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    Mute Rob
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    Jul 13th 2014, 6:06 PM

    Not a bad idea, hope it comes to cork soon!

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    Mute Sarah Taylor
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    Jul 14th 2014, 6:31 AM

    Fleetingwhim, they are providing an ongoing service. Regular matching of customers to cleaners for ongoing jobs that come up.

    Is it just the fact that the company charge any fee at all that you have a problem with? If the cleaners received €12 per hour and the customers paid €14 per hour, would this still be exploitation to you? Should the website instead become a free community service?

    Although I would imagine it to be against their T&Cs I can imagine that over time people engaging the services of cleaners may well end up making arrangements directly with the cleaners. If the arrangement was for the cleaner to earn €10 directly from the home owner, or even if they split the difference and agreed €11 per hour, is that exploitation because the customer has knocked money off the “value” of the worker’s labour?
    The website provides a particular type of service which both customers and cleaners can choose to avail of or not. There are alternatives open to cleaners which are a whole range of marketing and advertising options such as their own website, leaflet drops, advertising in local newspapers etc. That all costs money too. This service provides them with a new option to access a steady stream of customers (assuming of course that it takes off) in what seems to be a fairly convenient way.

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    Mute Diarmuid Lenihan
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    Jul 13th 2014, 5:53 PM

    Garglebin is an even better app if I’d ever get around to doing it. After the World Cup now I’ll make a burst.

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    Mute OU812
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    Jul 14th 2014, 12:22 AM

    and what would gargle bin be (now that you’ve mentioned it) ?

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    Mute Zozzy Zozimus
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    Jul 14th 2014, 12:21 PM

    I presume it will let me summon a cleaner to discreetly dispose of the stash of empty vodka bottles in my wardrobe?

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    Mute Fergus McMahon
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    Jul 14th 2014, 12:48 AM

    A crap ‘article’ if it even deserves that description. Author must have had an IOU to this business that he repaid with a lazy Sunday fill the gap piece. Good luck with the business guys but this is an advert disguised as business journalism, simple as.

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    Mute Zozzy Zozimus
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    Jul 14th 2014, 12:15 PM

    Well I was interested to read a short summary of what seems like an interesting business. Ok, it’s clearly useful for this company to get the publicity, but I still regard this as a valid business article. When a company comes up with an innovative business model that may have a major impact on some industry, it’s perfectly reasonable for the business media to publish articles about it. Just think of Ryanair, Amazon.com, Hailo, etc.

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    Mute Laura Mare
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    Dec 3rd 2014, 3:35 PM

    Do you not cover lusk? I need a cleaner….

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    Mute Jennie
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    Jul 14th 2014, 12:54 PM

    Interesting idea. I like it as a would be customer, however as it’s only available in Dublin it is useless to me

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