At least two young men have died in an accident along Nairobi’s Hamza estate along Jogoo Road. – By Gerald Gekara.
The accident involved a public service bus KCW047A, registered under the Umoinner SACCO plying the Nairobi CBD – Umoja Estate route and a lorry that had stalled on the highway.
According to witnesses, the bus attempted to overtake a private vehicle when it encountered a stalled lorry that he says ‘had no reflective material’ in its rear.
The bus is then said to have swerved to avoid hitting the tail of the lorry but cast out the two young men who were standing at the door of the matatu. The two died on the spot.
Residents who were at the scene faulted the lorry for not having proper danger alerts on the road, as well as the matatu for allowing people to hang at the door; a common feat for the ‘nganya’.
However, the same minibus had earlier been subjected to mandatory inspection after an overlapping incident that attracted widespread social media outrage.
In a ‘lip-serving’ notice the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) suspended operations for the minibus for six months, however, the bus was back on the roads in less than a month.
NTSA has not yet commented on the accident.
