Four students, driver killed in accident

The wreckage of a vehicle that got involved in a road accident on Wednesday morning along Bondo-Usenge road.Two people died while more than four sustained injuries.PHOTO/ISAIAH GWENGI.

Five people died while scores were injured after two matatus and a lorry were involved in an accident in Mwea, Kirinyaga County, yesterday.

Four secondary school students traveling from Meru to Nairobi for their half term break perished in the accident. The driver of the matatu also died while three passengers sustained serious injuries and were rushed to the Kerugoya Level Five hospital.

A witness Julius Murimi, said the matatu driver headed to Nairobi was overtaking a lorry when he swerved to avoid hitting a motorcyclist but he hit the lorry and lost control ramming another matatu at Wamumu on the Mwea-Nairobi highway.

“On trying to slow down, to avoid hitting the boda boda, he hit the lorry and lost control of the vehicle before he rammed the oncoming matatu,’’ Murimi said.

A turn boy in the lorry Kennedy Murangiri blamed the matatu driver for causing the accident.

Traffic police from Wanguru Police Station said the vehicles were carrying excess passengers.

Medics said 14 victims were admitted to Kimbimbi Sub-County hospital.

Meanwhile, a pathologist has blamed poor handling of crime scenes for botched investigations.

Addressing advocates in Kakamega at a workshop on health law government, pathologist Richard Njoroge raised concern that crimes scenes in the rural areas are not attended to professionally.

“It is rare to find forensic experts at these crime scenes, which ideally should be the case. For sites within Nairobi and Kiambu County, a better trained officer from the CID headquarters will be assigned to the sites to assist with sample collection,” he said. Njoroge also noted that there is the absence of independent investigators in most forensic sites and warned that cases of (deliberate) tampering with crime scenes were on the increase.

He blamed the public who crowd at crime scenes and ‘interested’ forces for tampering with evidence. Advocates said they encounter conflicting medical evidence and shoddy reports from pathologists in murder and homicides cases.

“Officers investigating murder and homicide scenes often rely on instinct, experience and available resources to prosecute,” said advocate Peter Samba.

“Forensic experts other than pathologists need to be involved in crime scene processing procedures as some are more experienced than police,” said Kakamega law society of Kenya chair Carlestous Shifwoka.

-Additional reporting by Robert Amalemba