18 killed as matatu and lorry collide in Kiambu

Wreckage of the matatu that was involved in a crash at Ngoliba, Kiambu County, on December 17, 2017. At least 18 people were killed. PHOTO | MARY WAMBUI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The 14-seater matatu was heading to Kitui from Nairobi.
  • The driver tried to overtake a motorcycle and ended up colliding head-on with the lorry.

A total of 18 people lost their lives in an accident involving a matatu and a lorry that occurred at Ngoliba on the Thika-Garissa highway on Sunday night.

Eleven, including the driver of the matatu, died on the spot.

Six others, among them the driver of the lorry, died in hospital on Sunday as another passenger also died in hospital on Monday.

The victims were 10 men, six women and two children, a boy and a girl aged six and two respectively.

The 14-seater matatu was heading to Kitui from Nairobi.

HOSPITAL

The driver tried to overtake a motorcycle and ended up colliding head-on with the lorry.

Three victims are recuperating at the Thika Level Five Hospital. Two sustained head injuries and multiple limb fractures.

The other, who is in the intensive care unit, sustained severe head injuries.

“The one in the ICU is still critical but the rest who were admitted to our hospital are well,” Dr Joseph Wanjohi, the hospital’s medical superintendent, told the Nation.

TREATMENT
Dr Gichunji Chege, who is in charge of the emergency ward, said two patients with multiple fractures and in need of blood transfusion, were transferred to the Kenyatta National Hospital on Sunday night while another was moved by relatives to St Mulumba Mission Hospital in Thika.

“We don’t foresee more referrals. We urge families of the affected to be patient as we do everything within our means to help the patients recover,” Dr Chege said.

Thika East police commander Julius Kyumbule said 11 bodies were collected from the scene of the accident on Sunday night while seven people died while undergoing treatment.

“We have identified six of the people who died and we are informing their relatives,” he said.

NTSA
At the same time, Thika MP Patrick Wainaina on Monday took issue with officers from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) who went to the Thika Level Five Hospital to gather information on the accident.

Mr Wainaina, who had visited the scene of the accident minutes after it happened before rushing to the hospital to check on those who were admitted, said:

“How does viewing the dead or those injured help NTSA? What is the authority doing to reduce these deaths?”

The officers asked the lawmaker to seek answers from their head office, a response the MP did not take kindly.