Coffin burnt as hearse bursts into flames

A hearse transporting a body from Nairobi to Kiamiciri village, Kirinyaga County for burial bursts into flames at Kimica section of the Kagio-Kutus road. (Photo: Munene Kamau/Standard)

There was panic in a funeral convoy after the vehicle carrying a casket containing the body of a former flower employee Arthur Njee Kariuki burst into flames.

The hearse, according to eye witnesses, caught fire at about 11 am at Kimica section of the Kagio-Kutus road in Kirinyaga County.

The convoy from Kenyatta University Mortuary was headed to Kiamichiri village where Kariuki, who was an employee of Suera Flowers farm in Nyandarua County, was being transported for burial.

Eye witnesses said the hearse was trailing the lead car when it suddenly burst into flames causing panic among relatives seated at the front.

The hearse driver Benson Munyua said the fire emanated from the coffin under mysterious circumstances and due to the explosion it caused almost made him lose control of the vehicle.

“Despite the raging fire from the rear of the vehicle towards the cabin where I was with the widow I managed through the grace of God to contain the vehicle and drove it off the road. Like in a movie scene I managed to evacuate the two mourners to safety,” a shaken Munyua said.

Mourners in the convoy rushed to the scene and secured the coffin which had already been extensively damaged by the mysterious fire.

The casket lowering devices were completely burnt, forcing the mourners to improvise as they later buried the deceased shortly after 3pm.

Following the strange incident, the coffin was loaded onto another vehicle and quickly driven to the burial site amid a heavy downpour that ensued.

At the burial site mourners waiting to attend the ceremony equally expressed shock and disbelief after being told what had happened along the way.

The mourners said just as they were shocked to learn of Kariuki’s sudden death at a private clinic in Nyahururu town last Saturday morning they were perplexed by the tragedy of the hearse.

The deceased who was 47 is survived by his widow Jeddidah Wangu and three children.

The hearse which was reduced to a shell was later towed away by police who said they were launching investigations as to what caused the fire.