Three feared dead as truck lands on tuk tuk at Kisumu flyover
The scene of an accident where a truck carrying gumboots veered off the Nyamasaria fly over and felll some feet down landing on top of a tuk tuk. At least three people are feared dead.
Atleast three people feared trapped inside the tuk tuk.
At least three people are feared dead after a truck carrying gumboots veered off the Nyamasaria flyover in Kisumu and landed on top of a tuk tuk which was passing beneath it.
Mr Amos Ojwang, a driver of a saloon car who was a few meters behind the truck, said it overturned at around 5.30pm.
Two people were trapped inside the tuk tuk which was carrying some sugar cane while the driver of the truck was also reported to have died while being rushed to the Kisumu County Referral Hospital.
“The truck was headed to Kondele when it overturned. The driver tried all he could to negotiate the tricky corner facing Kasagam but he lost control of the vehicle and plunged down,” said Mr Ojwang.
Immediately after the accident, locals milled around the scene, not to try and retrieve the bodies but to make a kill by looting the gumboots from the truck which was still lying a few meters from the Kasagam Police Station.
Police had a rough time containing locals and were forced to lob tear gas canisters at them as they tried to secure the goods.
This took more than an hour until a recovery truck towed the lorry away giving the rescue team an opportunity to try and remove the bodies from beneath the wrecked tuk tuk.
Kisumu East Sub County Commander Joseph Obare who was spearheading the rescue operation said he would give a comprehensive report about the accident later after they are done with the exercise.
Redesigning
The flyover remains a black-spot and has seen many trucks fall over, mostly those ferrying sugar cane to various millers in the western region.
Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong'o sent messages of condolences to the families of those killed in the accident describing it as horrifying.
“I ask the police and the Ministry of Transport to find a lasting solution to frequent deadly accidents on the Nyamasaria flyover, even if it means barring lorries weighing more than 10 tons from using the flyover,” said Governor Nyong’o.
Locals and area leaders called upon the Kenya National Highways Authority to reconsider redesigning it by increasing the size of the barriers.
