Four dead as bus ploughs into pedestrians in Kangemi crash
A bus crashed into pedestrians in Kangemi, Nairobi, on Wednesday evening, leaving four dead and four others critically wounded.
The driver had been going down a slope when the accident took place in Waruku.
Witnesses said the vehicle plied the Westlands-Uthiru route but that the driver opted for another one to avoid a traffic snarl-up on Waiyaki Way.
The alternative, however, has a steep stretch of about 200 metres, and it is in that section that the vehicle’s brakes failed.
The bus was stopped by the wall of a building at the bottom of the incline.
Witnesses said the driver fled from the scene and that his whereabouts were unknown.
At the nearby Riverside Medical Centre, Dr James Kiburi said they received four critically injured people from the scene of the accident.
He said one died at the facility while three were taken away in a St John Ambulance for advanced treatment elsewhere.
Rosemary Monti, a vegetables vendor, said the passengers in the vehicle only sustained minor injuries.
“The pedestrians included a woman who had been buying groceries on the side of the road and a motorcyclist who had just dropped off a passenger and was turning to return to his station,” Ms Monti said.
She added that this was the second such incident to take place in the area.