Highway horror: Murang’a family loses 13 relatives in single accident

Rodovich Gikonyo, who lost 16 family members at his parents' home in Kahiga, Kandara.

A cloud of grief has engulfed Kahiga village, Kandara subcounty, Murang’a county, following the death of 13 family members in a road accident on September 28

The accident that occurred along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway on Sunday left the village devastated, as villagers struggled to come to terms with the devastating loss.

In one of the homesteads, tents have already been pitched as residents trickle in to mourn with the families and offer their support. Many of the mourners are so overwhelmed by grief.

Rodovich Gikonyo, who lost his father, Elijah Mburu, his mother, Lydia Njeri and his sisters Joyce Wambui, Naomi Wangui and Catherine Njambi, said the family members had travelled to Rongai in Nakuru county to visit an unwell kin.

Others who died in the crash included Gikonyo’s uncle, Robinson Karanja and his two children, Naomi Wangui and Beatrice Waithera, cousins Grace Waithera and Eunice Ruguru.

The vehicle had also picked up four others in Nairobi, a woman and her three children, who also died during the accident.

“I was to accompany them together with my wife, but my daughter, who is in college, called me saying she needed shopping and her gas cooker needed to be refilled,” Gikonyo said.

Gikonyo and his wife agreed to send some money to their child, making it impossible for them to join the rest of the journey due to financial constraints.

The homestead in Kahiga village that has lost 16 family members in Kandara, Murang'a

He said they were later shocked to be informed that the vehicle that the family was using to travel was involved in a road accident.

The driver, Gikonyo’s nephew, Elijah Mburu, was an experienced matatu driver who plied the Nairobi-Nakuru and Nairobi-Nyeri routes.

On Monday, the family was informed that two family members who had been rescued from the wreckage and rushed to the hospital had also succumbed, raising the number of the dead to 16.

But Gikonyo noted that despite the heavy grief, the family now faces a daunting task of funding post-mortem for all the deceased members and transporting the bodies to Murang’a county while preparing for their burial.

The humble family, he said, cannot raise the money required for the three tasks and requires support from well-wishers and the government.

“We’ve been informed that just one post-mortem will cost Sh15,000. So the exercise alone will consume over Sh100,000. We don’t have that money as a family,” he said.

Michael Njumbi, a family member, narrated the shock that greeted them when they rushed to the hospital where the victims were taken.

A mourner at the homestead of Rodovich Gikonyo, who lost 16 family members in a road accident.

The deceased, he said, suffered serious injuries, especially those who had sat near the point of impact at the front of the vehicle.

Njumbi called on the government to consider expanding the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, saying the rate of carnage and loss of lives along the road is too high.

“This is such a busy road, and so many lives have been lost on it. It’s high time that the government sets aside funds to have it expanded,” he said.

Naomi Njuguna, area MCA, challenged motorists to exercise extra care while on the road to avoid such incidents.

“This is a wake-up call to road users to be more careful on the road and to the government to dual-lane the highway,” she said.

Njuguna confirmed that she had reached out to Governor Irungu Kang’ata to help the family transport the bodies to the county.

But she noted that family members require psychological support to help them process the grief as they prepare for their burial and even afterwards.