By John Mutiso
CCTV footage from Eagles Petrol Station along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway has shed light on the final moments leading up to the fatal road crash involving veteran politician Cyrus Jirongo. Â
The footage captures a brief but critical sequence of events in the early hours of the morning, moments before the collision that claimed his life.
According to the time stamps on the surveillance video, the incident began at exactly 2:18 a.m. when a white Mercedes-Benz, later confirmed to have been driven by Jirongo, entered the petrol station from the Nairobi direction.
The vehicle is seen accessing the premises without indicating, then proceeds past the fuel pumps but does not stop to refuel.
Within a short span of 34 seconds, the Mercedes makes a sudden U-turn inside the petrol station compound.
At 2:19 a.m. and 17 seconds, the vehicle exits the station and rejoins the highway, heading back towards Nairobi.
The manoeuvre appears swift, and the car is already back on the main road when events take a tragic turn seconds later.
At 2:19 a.m. and 25 seconds, another vehicle, now identified as the bus involved in the crash, is captured approaching the same stretch of highway from the Nairobi side.
The footage shows the bus travelling at what appears to be a very high speed, with its headlights on full beam.
Within moments, the bus collides with the Mercedes shortly after it re-enters the highway.
The impact, clearly visible on the CCTV footage, is severe; the bus rams into the Mercedes and drags it an estimated 25 metres along the tarmac.
The force of the collision causes the luxury vehicle to spin violently before finally coming to rest on the roadside.
At approximately 2:20 a.m., just one minute after the collision, another vehicle travelling towards Nairobi passes the scene.
Its headlights briefly illuminate the wreckage, revealing smoke rising from the area where Jirongo’s car had come to a stop.
Meanwhile, a postmortem examination conducted on Jirongo’s body revealed that he died as a result of blunt force trauma.
Speaking on Wednesday, December 17, Jirongo’s family pathologist Joseph Ndung’u revealed that the former MP had severe injuries in the chest, abdomen, spinal cord and legs.
“As a result of our examination, we formed an opinion that the late Cyrus Jirongo died as a result of a crush injury to the chest, abdomen and also a spinal injury due to blunt force trauma,” said Ndung’u.
The pathologist also said Jirongo’s body had multiple fractures on the right hand and on both legs.
“We have looked at the body of the late Jirongo; it had multiple injuries. There were two fractures involving the right hand and both lower limbs,” he stated.
Ndung’u also pointed out that the late Jirongo had extensive injuries to the chest, including fractured ribs, a perforated heart, and ruptured blood vessels.
“There was a crush injury to the chest with multiple rib fractures, and there was perforation of the heart with rupture of most of the vessels that connect the heart.
“There was also bleeding into the chest cavity and also crush injury going into the abdomen, affecting the liver, with bleeding into the abdominal cavity. There was also a transection of the spinal cord at the thoracic level,” he added.
