Is Nairobi's Sodom a doomed place?

The tree that fell on a matatu heading to Nakuru on Wednesday evening, killing five people.  [Photo: Elvis Ogina/Standard]

What is in a name? Many of us would be quick to shrug off the suggestion that the name we give a child or a place could have power to influence their character.

But not for most residents and traders of a small market centre near Kangemi, along the busy Nairobi-Nakuru Highway, a few metres from the site where a five people were killed when a huge tree fell on a matatu and boda boda on Wednesday.

Businesspeople at the trading centre that bears an eerie name—Sodom—have witnessed people dying in frequent accidents within a radius of about 300 metres, to the extent that they now believe there is everything in a name.

Sodom is mentioned in the book of Genesis in the Bible. God is said to have destroyed the town with fire and brimstone (sulphur) dumped from above after its residents went against His will.

"I have seen several people die on this highway near this place. I am convinced it may be connected to the name of this shopping centre," Jeremiah Mutembei, a shopkeeper at Sodom told The Standard yesterday.

"I started my business here in 2009. Barely a month passes before I see someone get killed. On Tuesday, an old man was knocked down by a speeding vehicle at this same spot," he said.

Eight people were seriously injured in the 5pm accident and are currently receiving treatment. It occurred after a huge tree fell, hit an adjacent blue gum tree whose branch broke and landed on the Nakuru-bound Prestige Shuttle matatu.

"The driver of the ill-fated van saw the tree falling and tried to swerve off the road. He avoided the huge tree trunk but unfortunately the branch of another tree broke and landed on the matatu," Francis Memba, who witnessed the accident, said.

"It would have been a different story altogether had the huge tree fallen on the matatu and if there was a traffic jam the way we are used to on this road," observed Mutembei, who pointed out other huge trees that may pose a risk to road users.

At the spot where the fallen tree lies, there are three other trees of a similar species with shallow roots that may come down anytime.  Several other such trees are on the road from Kangemi to the city centre.

But perhaps unknown to Sodom residents, the area near the trading centre all the way to the Kangemi Fly-Over is categorised as an accident black-spot by the National Transport Safety Authority.

According to the authority, the spot is among areas that have contributed to the high number of fatalities in the city. Nairobi had the most fatal crashes in 2015 recording 668 deaths out the total 3,057 nationwide.