Five dead as floods sweep away car in Kajiado

The scene of the accident in Kajiado Central where five members of a family lost their lives. [Courtesy]

Five members of a family died yesterday when the car they were traveling in got swept away by floods in Kajiado County. 

The family members were on their way back home from Tanzania, where they had gone to attend to a relative’s wedding.

According to police, who retrieved the bodies from the mangled up wreckage, the driver was trying to cross a swollen River Ngatatwok along the Kajiado-Namanga road when tragedy struck.

“It is very sad that we have lost members of one family in this incident. However, we are urging all the motorists to be on the lookout when approaching this river,” Kajiado County Commissioner, Joshua Nkatha said.

Police retrieved the five bodies and took them to the Kajiado refural hospital, while the vehicle was towed to Kajiado police station.

Meanwhile in Machakos County, a man and his wife died after their house collapsed, following heavy rains on Sunday night.

The newly wedded couple, Benedict Mwilu Mutuku and Margaret Muthoki in their late 20s were sleeping in their house when the wall of their bedroom collapsed, killing them instantly.

The incident, according to authorities, occurred about 3am at Kyai village in Katelembo sublocation, Kathekakai location in Machakos Town Constituency.

Speaking to The Standard, few hours after the incident, the Katelembo Assistant chief Mrs Josephine Munyiva Mbithi, said the house collapsed following heavy downpour that hit the area throughout the night.

She said the couple’s six year old son, who was sleeping at the sitting room, was woken up by the collapsing wall, only to find his parents dead.

“The boy ran out of the house screaming and woke up other family members including his grandmother who together raised the alarm attracting villagers” narrated the Assistant
Chief.

On arrival at the house, the Assistant chief and neighbours found the couple already dead and called the police who took the bodies to the Machakoa Level Five Hospital Mortoury .

The Weatherman had warned that heavy rainfall was expected to intensify across several parts of the country, warning people to remain alert.

Places that have been affected so far include parts of the Northwest, Northeast, Highlands East and West of Rift Valley and Southeast Lowland. [Peterson Githaiga, Victor Nzuma, and Lucas Ngasike]