Scores of bodies, some burned to the bone, lay on charred grass near trenches and a filthy river in the Sinai slum following the accident.
No official explanation had been given as to what caused the accident along the pipeline that runs through Sinai`s tin shacks.
However, some residents said fuel siphoning in the slum was a common practice.
"It happens whenever the Kenya Pipeline (company) is pumping fuel ... we usually go to get fuel from there," said Francis Munge.
"There are people who know how to open it (a valve) and I don`t know what happened this time for it to burst. Maybe there was a lot of pressure."
Another resident, Kenneth Makau, said: "There is usually a long queue of people getting fuel with jerrycans from that pipeline. It is an open secret because even they (the company) knows it very well. It has been happening."
"The death toll from bodies counted so far is 120. It is likely to rise because of the bodies in the river," said Philip Kisia, a Nairobi city council official.
Richard Lesiampe, the head of one of the country`s main hospitals in Nairobi, said 109 people were being treated for burns.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga expressed sympathy with the victims.
"It is a terrible, terrible situation. It is sad to see our people lose their lives like this," Odinga said as he toured the slum.
Many residents were caught up in the blaze, which started around 0530 GMT, and an AFP reporter at the scene counted scores of charred bodies around the scene.
Fuel leaks and oil tanker accidents in Africa often draw huge crowds scrambling to scoop fuel, resulting in many deaths due to accidental fires.
In 2009, 122 people were killed after a fire erupted while they were drawing fuel from an overturned tanker in western Kenya. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
