Kiambu family mourns five relatives killed in car crash

Stephen Machau, 83, (right) and his wife Elizabeth Wamaitha whose kin perished in a grisly road accident at Ndenderu in Kiambu last Sunday. [PHOTO: KAMAU MAICHUHIE/STANDARD]

KIAMBU: A family in Gatundu South is still struggling to come to terms with a tragic accident that killed five relatives.

And yesterday, news that the only survivor in the Ndenderu accident in Kiambu had succumbed to his injuries hit them hard.

Two brothers Daniel Kinyanjui, 42, Peter Ndai,38, their sister-in-law and her nine-year old daughter died on the spot when the accident occurred last week.

Their brother, Richard Kibingi, who was the driver of the car they were travelling in on the fateful day survived though with serious injuries. He, however, succumbed to his injuries on Sunday at the Kenyatta National Hospital where he was undergoing treatment.

The accident occurred after the driver of a lorry carrying sand lost control after the brakes failed and rammed into about 10 cars.

Mr Kibingi’s wife and daughter died on the spot. Their two-year-old son, Alvis Kamau, however, was lucky and survived.

The family was travelling back to Nairobi from Nyahururu where they had gone to visit their eldest brother.

When The Standard visited their home in Kahenia, Gatundu South, the family was still in shock trying to come to terms with the tragic loss.

IN SHOCK

The mother of the deceased brothers, Elizabeth Wamaitha, 80, was in shock as she struggled to come to terms with the tragedy that had befallen her family.

However, This is not the first shocking death the family has to deal with. The mother of 10 said in 1993 the family lost their daughter after she was poisoned.

Five years later, her son died after he was hit by a vehicle as he crossed the road near Gatundu town.

And as fate would have it, two of her daughters also died after falling ill, years later.

With only three children out of the 10 remaining, Ms Wamaitha said the news of her children’s death had shocked her beyond words, adding that she has been asking herself why calamity keeps dogging her family.

“There is nothing that I can say concerning my children’s death. It is God’s will, which we have accepted and cannot question. He knows better why it had to happen like that,” she said amid tears.

Wamaitha said they had hoped Kibingi would recover from his injuries. She is appealing for help in bringing up the children who have been left behind by her departed sons.