Five injured in freak accident

The vehicle that lost control injuring pedestrians, including one who had to get a leg amputated parked at the Parklands Police Station on March 29, 2015. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL

What you need to know:

  • The vehicle, a Range Rover registered to Mr SS Johar, a prominent city advocate, was being driven by his driver, Mr Julius Kanda Macharia when the accident occured.
  • Ms Maina 51, and her sister Jane Mbone who was also injured during the incident, were walking towards the Westlands bus stop from Parklands where they both work as house helps.

Five people are fighting for their lives in various Nairobi hospitals after a vehicle veered off the road and hit them in Westlands on Saturday evening.

One of the victims, Ms Rosemary Wangui Maina, had her right leg amputated at the MP Shah Hospital where. She remains in a critical condition at the hospital's intensive care unit.

The vehicle, a Range Rover registered to Mr SS Johar, a prominent city advocate, was being driven by his driver, Mr Julius Kanda Macharia when the accident occured.

According to witnesses, the vehicle lost control and veered off the road around the Sankara hotel in Westlands injuring pedestrians on the sidewalk.

MECHANICAL FAILURE

Ms Maina 51, and her sister Jane Mbone who was also injured during the incident, were walking towards the Westlands bus stop from Parklands where they both work as house helps.

They had left the residence of Ms Manita Kaur along 1st Avenue Parklands at around 1.30pm after finishing work and were headed to Kawangware.

"Ms Maina left our residence at around 1.30pm. When we later learnt that there was an accident in Westlands, we tried calling her in vain. Later someone picked her call and told us that she was one of the people who had been injured,” she said.

Ms Maina has been working in Parklands for the last 8 years.

Her daughter, Stella Wanjiku, told Nation at the hospital that she received news of her mother's accident from a stranger calling from her mother’s phone. “I spoke to her shortly before she left work and I think someone checked her call records and then called,” she said.

Wanjiku rushed to the scene of the horrific accident and arrived before the injured were rushed to various hospitals.

“I took a motorcycle and arrived as the scene where I found them. Her right leg was completely broken and blood was oozing from her mouth,” she said.

The vehicle that lost control injuring pedestrians on the sidewalk at the Parklands Police Station on March 29, 2015. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL

The vehicle’s driver, who is held in custody at Parklands police station, said that the vehicle developed mechanical problem shortly before the accident.

“It started moving very fast and the brakes failed. I lost control and hit the pedestrians and three other cars that were parked along the road,” he said yesterday.