3 Killed, 14 Others In Critical Condition After Horror Crash.

The wreckage of the vehicles involved in an accident that claimed 3 lives at Kibereke Trading Centre in Kandara.

Kibereke residents in Kandara, Murang’a County are reeling from shock after one of their sons perished in the full glare of his wife and mother when the PSV matatu he was driving was involved in a head-on collision with a canter lorry, claiming two lives on the spot and another succumbing to injuries on arrival to the Thika Level 5 Hospital.

According to eyewitness accounts, the truck, which was ferrying timber from Kangari lost control and started swerving all over the road for a distance of about 100m before ramming into an oncoming Nissan matatu from Thika, completely damaging its front side and eventually landing on its side.

“I was driving towards Kibereke from Ng’araria when I noticed that canter truck swerving all over the road at high speed. My instincts told me to drive off the road to avoid getting hit by the vehicle. Suddenly, it swayed to the direction of oncoming vehicles and rammed into an oncoming matatu that was speeding behind another one heading to Kandara. Two people died on the spot after they were thrown out through the windscreen of the matatu, said one man who did not want to be named.

He said that he suspected that the truck’s steering systems may have failed causing it lose control. Otherwise, he blamed speeding on the part of both drivers as, according to him, none of them could be in a position to comfortably control their vehicles due to the speeds they were travelling in.

The information we got from the police officer who was on the scene, the accident that occurred shortly after the crash at 1 p.m., claimed two people on the spot with several others rushed to Thika Level 5 Hospital in critical condition.

He said based on witnesses accounts, as well as tire marks and the vehicles on the scene, the canter truck which was traveling towards Thika may have been speeding before it swerved to the left and then suddenly swerved to the right into oncoming traffic, striking the matatu on the driver’s side.

The officer did not immediately have conditions of the survivors, nor did he know the exact hospitals where they were taken. Information, including names, ages and town of residence those involved was not immediately available.

The damage to the two vehicles was so severe that parts of the vehicles and contents were strewn across the road and on grass on the side of the highway. The contents of the vehicles were scattered throughout the immediate area and included travelling bags and personal effects.

At about the same time, another accident involving a saloon car and a bodaboda motorcycle took place just about 50 metres from the scene of the first accident causing minor injuries to the two who were on the motorbike.

Peter Gitimu, who witnessed the second accident, said that both the saloon car and the bodaboda were heading towards Thika when the car indicated to show that it was diverting towards the right side of the road. As the driver was negotiating the corner, the speeding bike immediately took to the overtaking lane, ramming onto the vehicle. The two were flown into the air before landing on the side of the road. The passenger broke his arm as the rider sustained minor bruises on his forehead.

They two were rushed to hospital by well-wishers.

The residents who spoke to us complained of the numerous accidents that were happening between Kandara and Ng’araria due to speeding motorists. They appealed to the authorities to erect several speedbumps along that stretch especially near the trading centres and schools.

“There has been so many accidents along this road due to over speeding. I think this is the sixth accident in the past two months and we are now getting worried. This is the fourth time in the last few months that the deceased driver has been involved in an accident,” said Hannah Waithira.

The shocked residents said that the wife to the deceased driver fainted on watching his husband die just before her eyes. She was rushed to Thika Level 5 Hospital. His mother, who sells greens in a ‘kibanda’ situated directly to the accident spot, was dumb-founded to a point that she could not speak to anyone.

The deceased were taken from the scene by the Kandara Police officers a few hours after the crash.

Reports from Thika Level 5 Hospital indicate that one other person succumbed to his injuries on arrival while about 5 others were in very critical condition.

“At around 2pm this afternoon, we received about 14 victims of an accident that had happened in Kibereke. One person died on arrival. Among the injured, about five had severe injuries with the rest being what we can refer to as serious but somehow stable condition,” said Peter Arakwa, the Kiambu County Health Communication Officer.