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Road design 'to blame for crash'

Details

Published on Sunday, 02 September 2007 00:59

A scene with vehicle seats littering a river is evidence of the impact of a road accident that left 29 people dead on Thursday night as engineers blamed the design of the road for the crash.
Clothing and other belongings were also scattered at the scene, while an engine from one of the matatus dangled from the bridge. Experts pointed an accusing finger at the curve of the road, describing it as wanting.

The road was designed for small vehicles, said engineers at the scene. Nyanza provincial police officer Grace Kaindi who was at the scene confirmed that 29 people died, while 21 others were in hospitals in Kisii Town. A trailer transporting cooking oil to Homa Bay hit the first matatu, killing three of its occupants. It then hit two matatus, sweeping them into Mobamba River, which traverses Kisii Town. Pedestrians too, died in the accident.
The crew of the trailer explained that it ran out of fuel near Gusii Institute of Technology, about a kilometre from the scene of the accident.  The driver parked it at the roadside and together with the turn boy, started to manually transfer fuel from a tank.      

"Suddenly, the vehicle started moving and I jumped in and attempted to control it, but because it had ran out of fuel, it was difficult for me," said driver Mwange Muteti.  He explained: "I saw two matatus approaching, while a third one was parked at the roadside. "The lorry rammed them and swept them into the river. I was saved by good Samaritans but suffered head, chest and leg injuries."
Twenty four people died on the spot, while five died at Kisii District and Ram Memorial hospitals. One of two patients at Ram hospital is the conductor of one of the matatus.
The injured suffered multiple fractures and bruises, doctors explained.
Six surgeons, led by Dr Nicholas Tinega, operated on the victims. Mr Leonard Mogaru, a witness said: "I had brought my car for washing at around 6.30pm ... I saw the trailer approaching the bridge at high speed and hooting, all of a sudden, it collided with two matatus and hit the third from behind." He added: "Immediately, we started the rescue mission and pulled out 20 bodies from the vehicles."
The rescue mission took more than four hours and was called off at 10.10pm when the rescuers and police agreed that there was no survivor at the scene. At the Kisii district hospital mortuary, hundreds of residents jammed the morgue to identify bodies of their relatives. By 2pm yesterday, 20 bodies had been identified among them a pupil at Lock Hill Academy in Keroka, Dominic Oroko.
Two secondary school deputy principals were among the dead.