Relatives of crash victims identify bodies at morgue

The dead were employees of ZJCC Engineering and Construction Company. [Boniface Okendo,Standard]

Faith Wambura bade her husband goodbye and returned to bed after handing Joseph Murigi bus fare to his place of work in Hurlingham.

Little did Wambura know that was the last time she was seeing Murigi alive. Twelve hours later, the mother of a three-year-old boy received a calling informing her about an accident at her husband’s place of work.

Wambura, 30, was told to head straight to Chiromo Funeral Parlour where some bodies had been taken. She left their Langáta house in a rush. 

It was while at the parlour that she received the devastating news of her husband’s death. And just like that, her world came tumbling down. Murigi,34, had woken up at around 6 am as has been the routine for the last six years. After freshening up, he requested bus fare from his wife.

“I gave him 200 shillings, which he appreciated and told me to lock the door as he wished me a good day,” recalled Wambura while struggling to come to terms with the abrupt death of her husband.

Murigi was a crane operator at the construction site where the machine crashed killing nine people on Thursday. Murigi’s death has left a void in his family. “He was the sole breadwinner of the family, now that he is no more, I don’t know how I will be able to raise our son,” mourned Wambura yesterday.

Lydia Nyambura, Murigi’s younger sister described her sibling as the family’s pillar. She said it is Murigi who funded her university education after their mother died when she was still a teenager.

“I don’t know how my dad and younger sister shall be able to cope up without him,” said Nyambura. Wambura and Nyambura were among grief-stricken relatives and friends who turned up at Chiromo Funeral Parlour to identify their kin.

The dead were employees of ZJCC Engineering and Construction Company, the Chinese firm, undertaking the construction of Qwetu Hostels in Hurlingham.

Among the dead were two Chinese nationals.