A matatu that was carrying about 54 passengers reportedly lost control and rolled several times into a ditch while ascending a hilly section. [Stephen Nzioka, Standard]
Eight people died on Friday night in a grisly road accident in the Kalamba area of Makueni County, leaving more than 40 others injured.
They were traveling to attend a traditional dowry payment ceremony.
The survivors of the ill-fated Matatu linked the fatal accident to the failed braking system while it was going down a steep section of the road within Inyoni village.
Accounts from the patients and eyewitnesses painted a picture of a desperate state where even the power steering, brakes and the entire propulsion was lost leaving the driver vulnerable and panic.
At the scene were scattered goodies that had been bought to be used and also presented during a traditional dowry payment ceremony that was to happen yesterday but never was.
“We were even sighting where we were going for the event before the accident occurred. The engine went off, then the vehicle went down a cliff amid total darkness. We couldn’t tell who would survive and who would die, it ended in cries and deep silence,” Mutunga Kelvin, one of the survivors told the Saturday Standard at Makueni county referral hospital where he is recovering with a fractured upper arm.