Freak accident: Tharaka Nithi man killed by pawpaw tree
He took a break to pick a ripe pawpaw he had spotted when the tree fell on him.
Residents of Kiraro village in Maara, Tharaka Nithi are in mourning after a local farmer was killed in a freak accident when a pawpaw tree fell on him on Thursday afternoon, August 8.
Mr Kimathi Mbaya had spent the day planting bananas and pruning his trees when he took a break to pick a ripe pawpaw he had spotted when the tree fell on him.
The impact of the uprooted tree killed him instantly.
A neighbour, Mr Eliaza Kamundi, said he heard screams from passers-by and went to investigate and found the man pinned by the tree.
They rushed to the farmer and lifted the tree to free him, but found he was already dead.
Mr Kamundi reckoned he might have heard the fatal tree fall, but did not think much of it as there was a lot of activity going on in the farming community.
“I was roasting maize when I heard something fall but I assumed it was a branch of the tree he was pruning, that had fallen. It was only after some young men alerted me to the accident that I realised what had happened,” he recounted.
Residents gathered at the scene and expressed shock at the bizarre accident.
Another resident Kinyua Nabea eulogized the deceased as a hardworking man, who was always busy on his farm or running other errands.
“In the morning, I saw him planting banana suckers only to hear that he had died. It looks like he was trying to pick the pawpaw when the tree fell on him,” he said.
Ms Jackline Njoki said they were shocked by the incident. “I have never seen such an accident where someone is killed by a pawpaw tree,” she said.
Elsewhere, a young man is recovering in hospital after he was beaten and set on fire by a mob for allegedly stealing potatoes from a green grocery store.
The man was reportedly caught on CCTV cameras committing the crime in Chogoria town in the sub-district.
After he was identified, angry locals tracked him and beat him to a pulp, while trying to extract a confession from him.
However, the police were alerted to the incident and arrived on the scene just as one of the residents had set the man on fire.
The police took him to the Chuka Referral Hospital where he was admitted.
