A lorry, carrying over 50 people, most of whom were returning from informal work, was involved in a tragic incident on Monday evening along Waiyaki Way in Nairobi, Kenya.
Witnesses reported that the overloaded lorry, traveling from Westlands Town towards Kangemi, crashed near the Westlands Expressway exit at around 5:30 pm.
A traffic police officer at the scene informed Wananchi Reporting that the driver of the lorry lost control, leading to the vehicle ramming into a concrete wall demarcating the highway, before crashing onto the hard tarmac.
“One person has died as a result of the accident, while over 25 sustained serious injuries,” stated the officer.
After the crash, most of the injured individuals lay on the tarmac, while others were loaded onto waiting ambulances.
Over five ambulances were present at the scene, and the accident caused a traffic snarl-up along the busy road.
Reports suggest that those on the lorry had hitched a ride because they didn’t have bus fare. Isaac Lutomia, who was on the fateful lorry, was left walking with a limp and a broken phone.
“A friend of mine invited me to join them on a free ride to Kangeni. It was my first time boarding the lorry,” he remarked.
Lutomia, who also lost his shoes in the accident, was offered Sh200 by a Good Samaritan to help him get home.
He resides in Kangemi and mentioned that he hitched a ride on the lorry at Westlands town, along with a crowd of other people.
Samson Wafula, a trader along the Waiyaki Way, expressed concern, saying, “I see these lorries passing on the road carrying sometimes up to 100 people, most of them hanging dangerously.”
Residents are calling for traffic police officers to caution lorries and trucks that often carry hundreds of stowaways who hang dangerously on the edges of the speeding vehicles.
Most of the injured were rushed to different hospitals around the city, while others, like Lutomia, limped home with stories to tell.
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