There was panic at Kerina shopping centre in Bonchari sub-county in Kisii as motorists and members of the public ran for their lives after a Kenya Power transformer blew up, causing a deafening explosion.
The transformer, located in the central place of the shopping centre, exploded after a building machine being used at a construction site accidentally fell on live wires causing a short circuit.
The Wednesday midday incident caught members of the public by surprise with people running helter-skelter with most of them fearing that it was a terror attack.
The explosion was followed by a blackout in all the adjacent buildings forcing most of the workers and shoppers to scamper for safety.
Though in a quick response the Kenya Power engineering team led by engineer Austin Okachi responded very fast and was able to deal with the problem in less than 45 minutes.
Members of the pubic caught in the melee said that most of them took off without even wanting to find out what had happened because the government has always cautioned them to be vigilant.
A business lady in the shopping centre, Daisy Bosibori, said the explosion was followed by deafening sounds that sounded like gun shots and they thought they had been attacked by terrorists.