Survivors recall Kaburengu accident horror as deaths rise
Boda-boda rider and preacher Davis Wafula Injendi, who survived a grisly accident at Kaburengu junction in Kakamega Count, is treated at Webuye hospital on August 25, 2020.
What you need to know:
- David Wafula had just dropped a passenger at the Kaburengu stage when the accident took place - a driver whose brakes failed ended up crashing into a group of roadside traders, most of whom were killed.
- The rider, who is also a preacher and a teacher at Imani pentecostal church in Kaburengu, said it was by God's grace that he escaped death by a whisker.
- Elsewhere in Kaburengu village, the family of 42-year-old Everlyne Wakasa, who died in the accident, has appealed to Kakamega County for help with burial expenses.
Monday was a day like any other for boda-boda rider Davis Wafula Injendi but he ended up surviving the grisly Kaburengu accident in Kakamega County that has left eight people dead so far.
Mr Wafula had just dropped a passenger at the Kaburengu stage when the accident took place - a driver whose brakes failed ended up crashing into a group of roadside traders, most of whom were killed.
The rider, who is also a preacher and a teacher at Imani pentecostal church in Kaburengu, says it was by God's grace that he escaped death by a whisker.
Speaking to the Nation at Webuye County Hospital, the father of four said, "I had just parked my motorcycle outside a food kiosk at the stage and asked mama chips if there was food as I was feeling hungry," he said.
"She said no food was ready but asked me to wait. We usually eat her food as it is always fresh. I told her let me wash my hands outside the kiosk as I waited while talking to my colleagues.”
The wreckage of a lorry that crushed into a group of traders at Kaburengu junction in Kakamega County on August 24, 2020, leaving at least eight dead.
Mr Wafula says he had barely finished washing his hands when he noticed the lorry heading in the direction of several kiosks, including the one where he was about to eat, at high speed.
“I panicked as the lorry kept swerving from side to side. It was not clear in which direction it would fall,” he says, adding confusion was why several people died.
"I was confused, wondering in which direction to duck, before I was knocked down by the lorry. I found myself on the ground writhing in total pain," he said.
"I felt a sharp pain in my left leg. I tried lifting my head and could see the vehicle knocking other people down.”
He says he saw a colleague get crushed to death and heard people screaming while running to safety.
"People immediately came to my rescue and removed my gamboot only to find my leg had been crushed and broken," he says.
Market women are pictured on August 25, 2020 near the scene of an accident in kaburengu, Kakamega County, that left at least eight people dead.
Black spot
The rider believes his sermon on Sunday had something to do with the day’s events.
“I told the congregation that we should always be prayerful as no one knows when he or she can go and be with the Lord," he says.
"I told the church that we are living in tough times so we should always approach Christianity with total dedication as no one knows when he or she will die.
"After I found myself beside the lorry, I did not remember what had happened. I watched the lorry run over other people. I think it was not my day to die.”
Everlyne wakasa, a market woman with six children, who died in an accident at Kaburengu junction in Kakamega County on August 24, 2020.
Mr Wafula also says Kaburengu is a black spot that needs cleansing.
"This is not the first accident to occur here since the Chinese started constructing the flyover. We want the national and county governments to tell us it’s taking too long to complete.”
He says many people have died there but not entirely due to accidents as some lose control of their vehicles at a corner near the flyover and plunge into a ditch to their deaths.
"I call upon the State to find a way to speed as lorries descend from Chimoi hill to webuye to stop the many deaths," he said, adding motorists underestimate the hill and are therefore less careful than they should be.
"The driver should not have jumped out of the lorry. He could have controlled it like others do on their way to Webuye, past the Nzoia bridge. Some of those who saw it first managed to run but some who panicked and were hit.”
Mr Wafula also wants the removal of bumps just after the Chimoi slope, saying drivers lose control after hitting them.
Everlyne Wakasa's children, relatives and neighbours Evelyn at their home in Kaburengu, Kakamega County, on August 25, 2020, following her death in an accident the previous day.
Appeal
Erick Wanjala, another survivor, says he found himself at the Webuye hospital with many fractures.
Simon Kisaka, the doctor in charge, said they received 14 patients and that two needed surgery as they were in a critical state. Seven people died at the scene of the crash and on Monday night, a survivor died in the hospital's theatre, raising the death toll to eight.
"One of those we had admitted was pregnant but is stable," the doctor said, adding the rest sustained soft tissue injuries.
Elsewhere in Kaburengu village, the family of 42-year-old Everlyne Wakasa, who died in the accident, has appealed to Kakamega County for help with burial expenses.
Jotham Muchenje, the father, said the body is at the Webuye hospital morgue and that they cannot clear the bill as Ms Wakasa was the breadwinner.
She got divorced four years ago and has left behind six children, who are all in primary school.
The family also asked Governor Wycliffe Oparanya to help educate the children.
