Mob burns matatu that killed three in Siaya town
The Wreckage of a Matatu that hit four pedestrians on Siaya –Kisumu road where three died while one was rushed to Siaya County Referral Hospital. The vehicle was burnt by angry residents in the 3.45 pm incident on July 28, 2015. PHOTO|NELCON ODHIAMBO|NATION MEDIA GROUP.
What you need to know:
- Eye witnesses said the matatu which was overtaking another one, veered off the road to avoid an oncoming saloon car and knocked the four. The four were on motorcycles.
- County commandant John Murage said the bodies of the three have been moved to the Siaya county mortuary and the vehicle and bicycle towed to police station.
Three people were killed and one seriously injured in Siaya town on Tuesday after a speeding matatu knocked them near Fuffy hotel.
Two were killed on the spot while the third one died while being treated at Siaya Referral hospital.
Eyewitnesses said that the matatu was competing with another one before its driver lost control and veered off the road smashing into the four as the driver tried to avoid an oncoming saloon car on the Siaya-Kisumu highway.
The matatu was burnt to ashes by irate residents. The accident occurred at 3:45pm.
Eye witnesses said the matatu which was overtaking another one, veered off the road to avoid an oncoming saloon car and knocked the four. The four were on motorcycles.
Mr Ernest Kiptais, a resident said he was standing at Ramba junction when he saw the two matatus rushing to Kisumu.
On reaching the Fuffy hotel, the driver of one of the matatus veered off the road on seeing the oncoming salon car. The matatu had no passengers at the time of the accident.
“It is then that it hit one of the motorcycles and two bicycles. He was unable to break off and swept the passengers under the car,” he said.
The Wreckage of a Matatu that hit four pedestrians on Siaya –Kisumu road where three died while one was rushed to Siaya County Referral Hospital. The vehicle was burnt by angry residents in the 3.45 pm incident on July 28, 2015. PHOTO|NELCON ODHIAMBO|NATION MEDIA GROUP.
According to Mr Kiptais, the vehicle was being driven by a tout to Ng’iya where he would hand it over to the driver.
“The tout escaped together with a colleague he was with inside the car,” he said.
Ms Lilian Achieng said that after escaping, residents started shouting and calling for the arrest of the two who had escaped.
They then mobilised others and burnt the matatu to ashes saying it had killed two innocent people.
The angry mob overpowered five police officers who had rushed to the scene to arrest the victims.
“They shot in the air but the crowd had decided to torch the matatu. They said they were not happy with the way the mamatu killed the two innocent passengers and nothing would stop their resolve to burn it,” she said.
County commandant John Murage said the bodies of the three have been moved to the Siaya county mortuary and the vehicle and bicycle towed to police station.
“We can confirm that three people died in the accident and we have since began investigations into the cause of the accident,” he said.
