Dowry celebration turns tragic as eight are killed in night accident

A matatu that was carrying about 54 passengers reportedly lost control and rolled several times into a ditch while ascending a hilly section. [Stephen Nzioka, Standard]

Eight people died on Friday night in a grisly road accident in the Kalamba area of Makueni County, leaving more than 40 others injured.

They were traveling to attend a traditional dowry payment ceremony.

The survivors of the ill-fated Matatu linked the fatal accident to the failed braking system while it was going down a steep section of the road within Inyoni village.

Accounts from the patients and eyewitnesses painted a picture of a desperate state where even the power steering, brakes and the entire propulsion was lost leaving the driver vulnerable and  panic.

At the scene were scattered goods that had been bought to be used and also presented during a traditional dowry payment ceremony that was to happen yesterday but never was.

“We were even sighting where we were going for the event before the accident occurred. The engine went off, then the vehicle went down a cliff amid total darkness. We couldn’t tell who would survive and who would die; it ended in cries and deep silence,” Mutunga Kelvin, one of the survivors, told the Saturday Standard at Makueni County Referral Hospital, where he is recovering with a fractured upper arm.

Kelvin had been contracted as a cook.

Rose Mueni, who also survived the ordeal, said, “What I can only remember was seeing the matatu going down the hilly section. The next thing remains a mystery; I even don’t know the whereabouts of my neighbours I had in the matatu,”.

Dr Harvey Mbithi, Chief Officer, Makueni Health Department, confirmed that many of those received in Matiliku Sub-County Hospital and Makueni had suffered both soft-tissue injuries and fractures.

“The medical team was immediately activated, and all the patients were treated well, and only a few of them remain, with many already discharged,” Dr. Harvey confirmed.

Those who died were taken to the Kilome nursing home morgue in Emali.