Makueni tragedy: How we tried to save victims of lorry of death
An attempt by some locals to cross the flooded river in a lorry ended in disaster when the vehicle was swept away.
A security guard who warned his colleague not to get into a truck to cross the swollen Kwa Muswii River in Makueni County died in a drowning incident on Friday, but the colleague survived to tell the tale.
Samuel Nzomo and Masila Mulonzi were returning home after a night shift in Sultan Hamud Township when they walked into the swollen river.
They joined dozens of residents, most of them hawkers and other small traders on their way to neighbouring Kasikeu Township, who had been stranded on the banks for hours waiting for the water to subside.
"We had been on the riverbank for more than seven hours when a lorry carrying ballast arrived and offered to help those stranded to cross. I wanted to jump on board, but my colleague advised us to wait and see. We held our breath as it waded through the raging waters. There was jubilation when it successfully crossed," Mr Nzomo told Nation on Saturday.
"When a second lorry came, there was a scramble for space as everyone wanted to cross. We agreed to jump on board to go home and catch some sleep before going back for the night shift. It was swept away as I watched. Luckily I was able to swim to safety and perch on a tree until the Kenya Red Cross officials came to my rescue. Unfortunately, my colleague did not make it out alive," Mr Nzomo told the Nation at Sultan Hamud sub-County Hospital mortuary after identifying his colleague's body, which was recovered on Saturday.
Mzee Mulonzi is among the nine people who drowned.
"We have treated and discharged 14 people who were rescued from the drowning accident. We received the bodies of six women and three men," said Jane Mwende, the medical superintendent at Sultan Hamud Sub-county Hospital. Makueni Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili said 10 people were still unaccounted for when she joined the rescue team at the hospital. Among them were two children whose mothers survived.
They were among the people who jumped onto a lorry attempting to cross the swollen Kwa Muswii River on the Kasikeu-Sultan Hamud road. Witnesses said they had grown impatient after waiting for hours for the water levels to subside.
The scene of Friday's accident. Normalcy on Kasikeu-Sultan Hamud road has resumed.
A video of the incident shows the truck wading into the raging waters before being swept away, prompting frantic calls for help from dozens of onlookers. The accident sparked a frantic rescue operation by volunteers, the Kenya Red Cross and the Makueni Disaster Response Team.
Mr Nzomo and 13 others, including the driver of the lorry, were pulled alive from the river. A police source said police were pursuing the driver, who fled after being rescued.
Among those who did not survive were Joyce Mbithe, a fruit vendor, and Jane Sammy, a hawker who travels from one market to another. They were on their way to Kasikeu Township.
"The last time we spoke to my sister was four hours before the accident. She had just arrived from Nairobi where she had delivered lemons. I warned her not to cross the swollen river," Muteti Musyoki, a brother of Ms Mbithe, told the Nation after identifying her body at the mortuary.
Ms Mulili led a team of county government officials to condole with the affected families. She said the Makueni Disaster Response Team and Kenya Red Cross officials had shifted rescue operations to other rivers that discharge their water into Kwa Muswii.
"We are calling on communities downstream to report any bodies they may see floating in the rivers," she said as she revealed that medics had started counselling those affected by the latest disaster in the river which starts in neighbouring Kajiado County.
