Kisii: Scores Feared Dead as Lorry Rams Into Boda Riders, Traders at Daraja Mbili Market
- Scores of people are feared dead after a lorry ferrying edible oils rammed into vehicles, boda boda operators and traders at Daraja Mbili market, Kisii County
- The accident occurred on Wednesday midmorning; a lorry ferrying cooking oils lost control after a brake failure
- Some of the onlookers took advantage of the accident to loot the edible oils from the ill-fated lorry before the police showed up
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Police are probing the circumstances of an accident that has claimed lives and left many others injured at Kisii's Daraja Mbili market.
Source: Facebook
The accident occured Wednesday morning, August 6.
A lorry ferrying edible oils is said to have lost control after a brake failure; it rammed into boda boda operators and other traders.
How Daraja Mbili accident occured
Eyewitnesses said the lorry struck a tuk-tuk along its path before colliding with a Probox vehicle.
The impact caught motorbikes and roadside vendors, including small-scale traders selling tomatoes on the side; their wares were quashed as they sustained injuries in the tragic scene.
Police showed up at the scene with a breakdown to tow the wreckage out of the scene as the Kisii County emergency response teams rescued the victims.
Before the arrival of the responders, some of the onlookers seized the tragic moment to loot the oil in the ill-fitted lorry.
They were captured scrambling for the commodity from the overturned vehicle.
In the recent past, the safety of traders in roadside markets has been of concern to the authorities following the rise of bloodbaths in such areas.
How heavy truck cut short lives of 52 in Londiani
A while back, 52 people died in an accident in Kericho's Londiani area after a heavy truck rolled over traders after losing control.
Forty-five people died on the spot, and seven others succumbed to injuries while in hospital.
The trailer was headed to Kericho; it lost control and rammed into waiting matatus, hawkers, and boda boda riders who were at the scene unawares of the imminent tragedy.
To mitigate such tragedies, the Ministry of Roads and Transport sanctioned the relocation of markets operating on road reserves.
The ministry announced plans to partner with the county governments to put up safe markets off the roads, with the Kenya National Highways (KeNHA) being charged with building access roads to the markets.
Source: Getty Images
In other news, a devastating accident recently occurred along the Londiani-Muhoroni Highway, specifically in the Kipsitet region of Koguta, leading to deaths.
How Muhoroni accident claimed 9 lives
According to police accounts, the driver of a Mercedes Benz lorry lost control and veered into the path of an oncoming matatu headed toward Kisumu, resulting in a deadly collision.
Nine people, including the truck driver, died instantly. Their bodies were taken to St Vincent Mission Hospital for identification.
Three others—a child and two adults—suffered serious but varying injuries and were admitted to Muhoroni Sub-county Hospital for treatment.
Images circulating from the scene captured the gruesome aftermath, showing horrific scenes that left little chance for survival.
The matatu was almost entirely destroyed, with its frame dismantled and only fragments of its seats remaining.
The police later towed the wreckage to the Kipsitet Police Station.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
