The impact of the crash after a trailer at Witeithie stage rammed into several matatus. [Photo|SKamau/Facebook.com]
Three people were last evening seriously injured while several others sustained various injuries after a trailer rammed into several matatus at Witeithie bus stage in Juja Sub-County along the busy Thika Superhighway.
According to eyewitnesses, the trailer which was coming from Nairobi headed to Garissa, rammed onto several matatus which were collecting passengers on the edge of the road, dragging them several metres away.
"I was offloading cakes from one of the matatus packed at the stage when I heard a loud bang. The trailer hit one of the matatus from the rear, pushing it forward several metres away from the stage. It hit several other vehicles," said Joseph Kibe, a Kenya Mpya conductor who witnessed the accident.
Another eyewitness Joshua Kamau said that the impact of the bang dragged several 14-seater matatus headed for Nairobi with some them getting extensively damaged.
Some commuters who were aboard the affected matatus blamed the accident on what they termed as 'careless lorry drivers who even use the bus stage as an overtaking avenue'.
"This is not an overtaking avenue! It is clearly labelled a bus stage. Why should any sane driver treat it otherwise? God is good that we have no casualties though some people have been seriously injured. We hope they will get justice as many of them were in much pain to even inquire for their change," Jeff Mucheru, a passenger in one of the affected matatus said.
Joyce Mutheu, a fruits seller just next to the scene of the accident, said that some occupants of the truck including the driver jumped from the errant lorry and run away.
As a result, a woman who was supplying cakes, got her leg crushed while two other men who were standing on the roadside sustained serious head and chest injuries after the lorry which was still moving when the driver jumped off rammed on them. They were rushed to Thika Level Five Hospital where they are said to be in a stable state.
Many vehicles which got involved in the accident are currently held at Juja Police Station awaiting further investigations by traffic police.