Driver kills two people while trying to overtake ambulance, flees scene

The driver tried to overtake an ambulance in Makueni. [All pictures by Stephen Nzioka, Standard]

Police in Wote town, the  Makueni County capital, are hunting for a driver said to have been drunk and who was seen driving dangerously in the town before he hit a passer-by near Makueni Referral Hospital road and crashed into a residential building.

A woman in the car died on the spot while a male passenger passed on while receiving treatment at the Makueni Referral Hospital on Monday night.

Tenants of Mundu Apartments who witnessed the incident from the balcony said the vehicle was trying to overtake an ambulance that was ferrying a patient to a nearby private facility.

“There was an ambulance that was headed in the same direction with the car and the driver of the car tried to overtake in this narrow road that has no bumps. The ambulance slowed down to allow them to pass and it was during this time when the car deviated from the road, smashed a wall, and plunged into a building compound,” said Charity Kiamba, an eyewitness.

aThe witness said it happened in a flash. The driver who appeared to be intoxicated made his way out of the car and did a  sign of the cross – touching his forehead with the mention of the “Father”, the lower middle of his chest in the name of the Son, left shoulder on the mention of “Holy” and finalised on touched his right shoulder saying and the “Spirit”. After the short prayer, the man escaped on foot before the crowd had grown bigger.

“I saw him do the sign of the cross maybe because he survived the accident, and then walked away,” added Ms Kiamba. 

Eliap Kiruthi is a resident at the apartment and was one of the first people to assist the accident victims.

“I was in the house when I heard screeching tyres before the car crashed past the apartment’s wall. When I walked outside I found three people inside the car and an injured woman lying outside,” said Kiruthi

The Makueni Referral Hospital medical superintendent Dr Joseph Masila, said they had received three victims following the accident.

“We received three victims of a road traffic accident where one had already died, the second one died while getting resuscitated at the casualty unit. The third one is stable in our unit,” said Dr Masila

The damaged car in which were several bottles of alcohol in was towed to Makueni Police Station awaiting investigations.