Simon Macharia and his sister-in-law Alice Wangechi. The two survived the accident that claimed six on Saturday night. /ALICE WAITHERAA family from Ndia village in Gatanga Sub County is mourning five members who lost their lives during a road accident that occurred on Saturday night, casting a cloud of grief upon the village.
The family members were travelling from the Kiambaa area in Kiambu county where they had attended a dowry ceremony when they met their death.
The accident occurred at Wachengu Bridge, which is located along Chomo-Kahunyo Road, when the matatu reportedly had its brakes fail, barely two kilometres away from their homes.
The bridge on a slopy and sharp corner does not have guardrails, making it a hazard for thousands of locals who use it every day.
Alice Wangechi, a survivor, explained that the vehicle had just left the Thika-Gatura tarmac road when the vehicle started swaying from one side of the road to the other.
“I don’t remember how the vehicle plunged into the river. I can’t explain it. I just remember feeling the water covering my face and realizing that my life was in danger”.
Wangechi, who lost her husband, Paul Karanja in the accident, said she desperately tried to cover her nose and ears from the water as the vehicle sank deeper into the Kiama River.
Sitting on the third row, Wangechi said the events that occurred in those moments remain hazy, but that she at some point moved her leg and heard rescuers screaming that she was alive before she was pulled out.
“I’m very thankful to God for saving me from the jaws of death,” she said, noting that she received treatment and was discharged.
She cautioned motorists against driving vehicles with mechanical issues and risking the lives of passengers.
Among the deceased are Peter Mwangi and his wife, Alice
Wambui, his brothers, Karanja and Elijah Kamau, and nephew, Amos Macharia.
Residents of Ndia Village congregate at the homestead of the five who lost their lives in a road accident barely two kilometres away./ALICE WAITHERAAnother person who perished in the accident, a woman, had been picked up minutes before at Gatunyu shopping centre by the driver and was not part of the family.
Several others sustained injuries and were treated at Kirwara Level Four and Murang’a Level Five hospitals before being discharged. Three are still undergoing treatment.
Julius Waruingi, another survivor, said they started getting concerned when the vehicle started speeding downhill before the driver shouted to them that he had lost control of the vehicle.
Moments later, the matatu went flying over the bridge, landing on one side, amid desperate cries from the passengers.
“It happened so fast. We are thankful that passersby quickly came to our rescue, but not before we lost our relatives who died on the spot,” he said.
Elias Muchiri narrated how the family had shared happy moments together in the dowry before the tragedy struck.
“The dowry was such a happy event, only to receive news of the accidents just hours after we dispersed,” he said.
Muchiri, a brother to three of the deceased, said they drowned when the matatu plunged into the river and other passengers trampled on them as they strove to save their own lives.
He said the family is facing a huge responsibility of planning for the burial of the five and requires support from both well-wishers and the local leadership.
“We have not even met to decide how we will go about it because we have been focusing on those who had been hospitalized,” he said.
The incident occurred just four weeks after another family from the neighboring Kandara sub county lost 16 members in an accident along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway after the matatu they were traveling in collided with an on-coming truck.
They had travelled to Rongai in Nakuru to visit an unwell aunt.
