Nairobi , Kenya ( CNN ) -- A fuel pipeline exploded in a densely populated Nairobi slum Monday morning , flattening homes , reducing some bodies to dust and forcing a massive evacuation of the area amid fears that big pools of leaked fuel could ignite , police and Kenya Red Cross officials said . At least 75 people died in the explosion and fire , said Charles Owino , a spokesman for Kenyan police . Police and Red Cross officials expected the death toll to rise . The fire erupted around 10 a.m. , possibly as a group of people were siphoning fuel from the pipeline in the Sinai slum , officials said . Coming to a precise accounting of the toll may be difficult because so many of the victims were found huddled together and severely burned , said Carol Nduta , a Kenya Red Cross emergency medical instructor and dispatcher who traveled to the scene . Some of the bodies were burned to dust , she said . `` Almost the whole place blew up , '' she said . Charred bodies were strewn throughout the wreckage . Some bodies were still bobbing in a stream that passes through the settlement Monday afternoon . Red Cross officials said it would be Tuesday before they could all be recovered . Images from CNN affiliate Kenya Television Network showed flames shooting from metal-roofed buildings as firefighters and people in civilian clothing rushed to the scene and picked through the flattened remains of structures . A total of 118 people were admitted to Nairobi hospitals for treatment , police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said . Authorities set up counseling centers at a stadium in the city as hospital officials made an urgent appeal for blood , saying that many of those admitted to Nairobi hospitals suffered extensive burns and would require blood transfusions to survive , state broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Co. reported . The precise cause of the accident remained unclear . Police suspect the pipeline was punctured , possibly in an effort to steal fuel , Kiraithe said . KBC quoted Prime Minister Raila Odinga as saying the incident occurred after a mechanism on the pipeline failed , allowing fuel to spill into a drainage ditch , where it then ignited . He said the explosion was the worst energy-related disaster in the country 's history . Fatalities from fuel leak accidents are common in Kenya . Scores of residents scramble to scoop up fuel whenever there is a leak or a tanker is involved in an accident . In 2009 , more than 100 people died in a fire after an oil tanker overturned in Molo , in western Kenya . In that incident , someone trying to take some of the fuel lit a cigarette , starting the fire . A 2009 article in a Kenyan newspaper , The Daily Nation , discussed concerns of such a fire in the Sinai slum , where residents built shanties and even a church next to or even on top of the pipeline , according to the Daily Nation . `` I do n't think there will ever be a fire , but you never know , '' the newspaper quoted one resident who it said had refused to move away from the pipeline despite eviction notices from Kenya Pipeline Company . Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta pledged the government will do its best to aid victims and investigate the cause of the incident , according to KBC . `` As Kenyans we feel a collective sense of loss and grief , '' KBC quoted him as saying . `` As leaders we ought to feel a collective sense of responsibility . '' CNN 's Andreena Narayan , Faith Karimi , Lillian Leposo , Helena DeMoura and Kim Chakanetsa contributed to this report .
The confirmed death toll rises to 75 after a Nairobi pipeline explosion . The pipeline exploded Monday morning in the Sinai slum . Police and Red Cross officials say the toll is likely to reach 100 . Residents discounted fire danger in 2009 Kenyan newspaper article .