Seven people burnt to death in Meru oil tanker accident

A wreckage of the private car, in which the five victims were travelling in before the accident. [PHOTO:KATHURE MUKURU/STANDARD ]

By KATHURE MUKURU

EASTERN; KENYA: Seven people were on Tuesday afternoon burnt beyond recognition after an oil tanker hit a matatu and a private vehicle at Iraru Bridge along the Meru-Nairobi highway.

The tanker that was heading towards Meru town lost control after hitting another oil tanker coming from the opposite direction and started accelerating towards the bridge.

It hit the bridge rail guards and caught fire immediately, before hitting the matatu and the private car, a Toyota Rav 4.

All occupants in the matatu managed to escape through the windows before the vehicle burst into flames, but five occupants of the private vehicle and two others, a driver and turn boy of the lorry were burnt beyond recognition.

The matatu driver who identified himself as Ambrose Kimani narrated how he spotted the lorry heading to his vehicle at high speed and he veered off the road towards the rail guards to avoid a head-on collision.

“The lorry was in flames and it hit our vehicle and hurled fire balls to our vehicle. We all rushed out through the windows, only to see the lorry hit another small vehicle and both burst into flames,” said Kimani.

The matatu and the Rav 4 vehicle were heading towards Embu town.

Some sources claim that the ill-fated private car belonged to the Catholic Arch Diocese of Meru, and the occupants were heading to a burial in Chuka town.

All the three vehicles involved in the grisly accident stalled at the bridge which connects Kanyakine and Igoji towns.

A somber mood engulfed the scene and transport was paralysed for at least four hours.

Fire fighters from Meru County government rushed to the scene to fight the fierce fire that consumed the three vehicles and reduced them to shells.

The fire fighters faced challenges severally after they ran out of water, prompting them to refill the lorry with water from Iraru River, which the bridge stands over.

And even as the firefighters were engaging the heavy fireballs-that were fanned by petroleum products that were being ferried by the tanker-the occupants of the lorry and the private vehicle were still trapped in the cabins.

By the time the fire was extinguished off, it had consumed the three vehicles, guardrails and nearby trees among other vegetation.

A witness, Mr Jackson Mawira who was at the nearby Miruriri market said he spotted the tanker hit another lorry-also a tanker.

Mawira said the other tanker, which was heading towards Embu stopped, but the killer lorry lost control and started speeding down the valley that ends at the bridge.

“After it disappeared down the valley, I heard a loud bang and a cloud of smoke appeared. We rushed to the bridge and found the three vehicles engulfed in fire,” said Mawira.

Meru Governor Mr Peter Munya joined other rescuers at the scene, and said it was a sad day for Meru people, following the death of seven people within the area.

Munya said the national government should put up radical solutions to avert more loss of lives in accidents in the region.

“We cannot continue to lose lives on our roads. Police should form a new unit because the current system of traffic officers seem to have failed in curbing accidents,” said Munya.

Munya advised the national government to devolve the traffic function to counties, who will be better placed to curb the rising road carnage, which he said is claiming more lives that HIV/AIDS, putting Kenya number one on road accident deaths.

Police removed the charred remains from the wreckages, and took them to Meru Level Five Hospital mortuary for identification and post mortem.