Expectant mother, girl die after trailer hits them

By Cyrus Ombati

Two pedestrians died Monday morning when they were hit by a speeding trailer along Waiyaki Way in Nairobi.

The deceased included a pregnant woman and a school girl, police said. Five others were injured and rushed to hospital.

The accident happened at about 9am, as the driver of the trailer tried to avoid hitting a matatu that had suddenly changed lanes to pick up passengers.

Survivors who were in the matatu, headed for the city centre said the driver was sending a message on his mobile phone while his tout was picking up passengers.

"Without paying attention on the oncoming vehicles he changed the lane to the main highway as the trailer approached," said a survivor at the scene.

It was however too late as the trailer hit the matatu from the rear side as the driver tried to avoid the collision forcing it off the road and later swept seven pedestrians, two of whom died on the spot.

The matatu veered off the road and was stopped by a tree while the trailer overturned on the roadside.

This led to a heavy traffic jam along the busy highway on both lanes.

Nairobi Area head of traffic Patrick Lumumba said they are holding the driver of the matatu over the incident.

The accident happened hours after another one along Thika Road that killed six passengers.

The Sunday 4.20pm incident involved a matatu and a lorry of a Chinese firm constructing the road at the GSU drift.

The matatu rammed onto the rear side of the lorry due to speeding and poor visibility, police said.

Lumumba said it was raining at the time of the accident.

Those in hospital including three school girls are recovering well, police said on Monday.

Lumumba said deaths were highest on the road since its construction began almost two years ago.

The superhighway, he added needs a lot of re-orientation for drivers to be able to master it well.

Pedestrian walks are yet to be completed on the highway.