Four pupils among seven dead in Kwale road accident

At least seven people, including four pupils, have died in a road accident on Mombasa-Lunga Lunga highway at Kanana, Kwale County.

The pupils, from Kisauni Primary School in Mombasa, were on their way back home in a hired matatu after taking part in a school tour at Shimoni caves. The exact number of pupils who were in the vehicle could not be established.

Confirming the Friday 6:30pm incident, Shimoni Police Station boss (OCS) Abdullah Tato said the other victims were a woman and her two children, who had been standing along the road waiting for a vehicle.

He said several other people were seriously injured and were rushed to Msambweni Referral Hospital for treatment.

“I had just returned to my work station from Tanga when I received a call from residents who informed us about the accident and we had to rush to the scene,” he said.

Mr Tato said the accident occurred as the matatu driver attempted to enter a road at a junction in Kanana yet there was an oncoming vehicle.

He said the oncoming vehicle, a speeding Tanzanian lorry that was ferrying mangoes from Msambweni to Lunga Lunga, hit the matatu from behind.

“After hitting the matatu, the lorry driver lost control and knocked down the woman and her two children before landing into a ditch where it stopped,” he said.

DIED INSTANTLY

The OCS said woman pedestrian died instantly and was trapped under the vehicle. It took the intervention of Kwale International Sugar Company for the body to be removed.

The sugar company brought a crane that was used to carefully pull out the lorry, avoiding crushing the woman’s body.

“I can confirm to you that three people died at the scene but the rest who were in a critical condition succumbed to injuries before reaching hospital,” he said.

Angry residents and boda boda riders who operate at the junction landed on the matatu driver with kicks and blows, accusing him of causing the accident.

The driver of the matatu — which plies the Bamburi route in Mombasa County — was saved from an imminent lynching by the police.

On Saturday morning, residents blocked the road demanding that a bump be erected in the area, which is a black spot, in order to prevent further accidents.

Lunga Lunga Sub-County Administrator Edward Chibu managed to calm down the situation by promising them that a bump would be erected on Monday.

Similar demonstrations were witnessed a few days ago at Mwabungo in Msambweni Sub-County after a boda boda operator was knocked down by a lorry.

Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya and his deputy Fatuma Achani intervened and after a day, Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) officials erected bumps as requested by locals.