Kenyan driver killed in grisly road accident in US

The scene of a grisly road accident in which a Kenyan driver was killed in Scituate, Rhode Island on September 26, 2014. PHOTO | BMJ MURIITHI |NMG

A Kenyan truck driver has been killed in a road accident in Scituate, Rhode Island, after losing control of his eighteen wheeler truck.

Joseph Kariuki Maina died early Friday morning when his truck struck a guardrail and rolled into a wooded area, destroying the railing before landing on its side.

The truck- trailer, registered to a Kenyan owned trucking company in Fortworth, Texas, was loaded with cases of tomato sauce.

Speaking to the media in his office on Saturday, Scituate Police Chief David Randall said authorities received a 911 emergency call at 3:54 a.m. about the tractor-trailer flipping over near the intersection of Route 6 and Route 101.

Mr Joseph Kariuki Maina died after his truck lost control hitting a guardrail in Scituate, Rhode Island, USA on September 26, 2014. PHOTO |COURTESY | NMG

“It appeared that the driver lost control of the truck after traveling down a steep hill while traveling east on Route 6,” he said.

He said it took some time before rescue workers and the police discovered the driver’s body beneath cases of debris that spilled from the truck.

Mr Randall said the truck’s cab was completely destroyed in the accident. The police spokesman also said the truck destroyed 66-feet of guardrail before rolling over.

Mr Randall added that there were no other casualties in the single-vehicle crash.

Following the accident, the highway was closed for several hours as police conducted investigations into the possible cause of the crash.

The family of the deceased has sent out an appeal for financial assistance from the Kenyan community in the United States to offset funeral costs.

He lived in Clive, Iowa.