Five kin die in accident, bodies trapped in water

A family in Meru county has been plunged into mourning after losing five of its members in a grisly road accident on Saturday night.

The five lost their lives in the accident that occured  along the Embu-Makutano road in Kirinyaga County.

The dead, among them a couple and two children aged five and eleven years perished when the saloon car they were travelling in skidded off the road and plunged  into the flooding Nyamindi River at Difathas village of Gichugu sub-county.

A sixth victim escaped narrowly escaped death when she was thrown out of the window.

The kin were travelling back to Nairobi  after attending a family member’s funeral at Mikinduri village in Meru County.

The survivor narrated how the driver lost control of the vehicle as he was negotiating the corner before hitting a guard rail at the Nyamindi Bridge, an accident black spot.

According to eye witnesses, the car seemed to fly in the air before ramming into a tree, uprooting it. The car then rolled shattering the windscreen of the car where the only survivor was flung out of the car landing in a bush. He suffered a fractured hand.

ACCIDENT BLACKSPOT

The car then plunged into the raging waters with all the other occupants on board and was swept away but got caught between rocks.

County police commander, Mr Rono Bunei confirmed the deaths adding that two of the victims are brothers.

"All the five relatives succumbed to their injuries but a sixth one escaped death by a whisker," he said.

Mr Bunei said the survivor screamed for help as the car rolled into the river attracting a crowd of villagers and police rushed her to Embu Level Five Hospital where she is receiving treatment.

The police boss said he suspected  the driver must have slept on the wheel, causing an accident.

"I suspect that the driver was too tired and dozed on the wheel but we are investigating the matter with a view of establishing the circumstances under which the accident occurred," he told the press at the scene.

Mr Bunei said many people have died at the black spot and advised the drivers to be careful when passing through the route to avoid fatal accidents.

Family members who arrived at the scene soon after the accident which is the worst in the area in recent times were overwhelmed by emotions and wept uncontrollably.

Others collapsed in a faint and  had to be given  first aid before being led away from the horrific scene.

A relative, Mr Naftali Ithaly, 34 said the six left for Nairobi at around 6pm and started their journey back to the city. Ithaly said the victims had travelled all the way to Meru from the city to attend a burial but unfortunately met their death on their way back.

He said he was shocked when a few hour later he received information that the victims had met with an accident and that five of them had died.

DOUBLE TRAGEDY

"Without hesitation, I and other relatives drove to the scene and were shocked to see the car in which our kin were travelling in trapped between rocks," he said.

"In fact we are in a shock because of the tragedy. We have just buried a relative and we have lost five more so soon after the funeral," he said.

Another relative, Jeremano Kaimenyi said he was about to go to sleep when the sad news reached him.

"I was about to go to bed when I was informed that our relatives had an accident and that nearly all of them had lost their lives," he said.

Mr Kaimenyi narrated how he almost collapsed when he saw the mangled wreck of the car in trapped in the raging waters.

"When I saw the car, I knew definitely my relatives were no more," he said as tears welled up in his eyes.

The accident caused a major traffic snarl-up as hundreds of villagers blocked the road as they attempted to remove the body of the victims.

BySunday morning, the car and the bodies of the victims had not been retrieved from the river.