20-hour jam ordeal on Mombasa Road

What you need to know:

  • A truck and a pick-up were involved in an accident, causing a traffic jam.
  • It was made worse by many cars on the road due to three functions in Machakos and heavy rain in the evening.

Hundreds of motorists and travellers were stranded overnight on the Mombasa highway following a massive traffic jam that lasted more than 20 hours.

The gridlock intensified at 10pm on Saturday night and had not been cleared by 1pm Sunday.

Lorries, buses, matatus and private vehicles clogged the road from Athi River to Chumvi junction that branches off to Machakos Town.

According to Machakos Base Commander Abdinasir Harun, the gridlock was caused by an accident at Prima Rosa involving a lorry and a pick-up van.

The driver of the van died on the spot.

OVERLAPPING
Police spent Saturday evening clearing the jam amid heavy downpour.

“While clearing the jam, impatient drivers started overlapping, creating up to four lines. Some got stuck in the mud,” the police boss said.

He said officers from Machakos and Athi River worked overnight to 2pm to restore normal traffic flow.

Students returning to school in Kajiado, Kitui, Machakos and Makueni counties after the mid-term break were among the hundreds of stranded passengers.

At the Railways Bus Station, stranded students said they could not afford the increased fares. “We expected the fare to be about Sh150,” a Machakos Boys High School student said.

JOB
Journalist Ben Kitili, who missed a TV show because of the snarl-up, said: “It usually takes me three hours to drive from the village to Nairobi. I left yesterday at 3pm and it has taken me exactly 20 hours to get to Nairobi,” he complained on his social media platforms.

Three major events took place in Machakos on Saturday, including a burial that President Uhuru Kenyatta attended, and a football match between Gor Mahia and Bandari FC at Kenyatta Stadium.

The third was a live concert at the People’s Park that attracted many revellers from Nairobi. Also, the road is being upgraded to a dual-carriageway.

One traveller said he alighted from a vehicle and used a motorbike from Simba Cement to Chumvi junction, about 5km. He paid Sh300. Others chose to walk rather than spend the night in vehicles.