German appliances firm in Kenya gas cookers recall

German home appliance maker BSH has warned its consumers in Kenya to check their gas cooking appliances “immediately” for a gas supply fault which could cause the appliances to explode in extreme cases.

The company, billed as Europe’s largest manufacturer of home appliances, in a notice published in Kenyan dailies warned on Tuesday that models of its Bosch - FS gas cookers manufactured between January 2009 and October 2011 have been shown to have a fault affecting the gas supply.

The company said: “In certain circumstances, gas can escape in an uncontrolled manner and in extremely rare cases a risk of explosion can arise. The reason is potential damage to installed gas connectors.”

To avoid any potential hazard, it cautioned owners of affected appliances to turn off the gas supply to the appliances immediately and not use them until the connection fitting has been replaced by its experts.

BSH which expanded its operations in Kenya in 2014 had not responded to Business Daily queries on how many units of the potentially defective gas cookers are in the Kenyan market.

In its statement however it said every affected owner will get a free replacement of the gas connector by its authorised service engineer at their home.

“We apologise for any inconveniences caused and thank you for your understanding and patience. Please call us in case you have problems with checking whether your appliance is affected or you have any further questions,” it said.

The firm has issued similar warnings in other parts of the world affecting the product in markets where it is present.

BSH home appliances corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, based in Munich, Germany.