One person was killed and several vehicles were burned on Saturday morning after a collision involving a fuel tanker and a truck along the Southern Bypass in Nairobi.
The crash occurred at about 10:25am after a fuel tanker travelling from Mombasa Road toward Lang’ata Road swerved to avoid a truck that had stalled on the highway.
In the process, the tanker veered into the opposite lane and collided head-on with a yellow truck heading toward Kikuyu, triggering a fire that quickly engulfed the vehicles.
The driver of the truck died at the scene, according to Lang’ata sub-county police commander Pius Mwangi.
The fuel tanker driver sustained injuries and was rescued by emergency responders before being taken to a nearby hospital, where he was reported to be in stable condition.
“The accident involved several vehicles,” Mr Mwangi said at the scene. “One vehicle lost control, crossed to the right side of the road and collided with another trailer coming from the opposite direction. As a result, we lost one person.”
Police said at least three other vehicles were affected by the impact and the ensuing fire, though no additional fatalities were reported.
Eyewitnesses near the accident scene described moments of panic as thick black smoke rose from the highway.
Mr Jared Onyango, who was washing cars nearby when the crash occurred, said people fled in fear as the fire spread.
“We heard a collision and soon after saw huge black smoke,” Mr. Onyango said. “We ran for our lives. We even rushed to a nearby place where they sell jet fuel to urge them to help put it out.”
Mr Onyango called on the Kenya National Highways Authority to install speed bumps along the stretch, which he said has a steep descent that encourages speeding. He also urged motorists to remove stalled vehicles from the road promptly to prevent similar accidents.
The Langata police boss urged drivers to exercise caution, noting that the Southern Bypass is one of the city’s busiest roads.
“My urge to drivers is to be extremely careful,” he said. “They are trained to use public roads. Let them follow the procedures the way they were trained.”
Traffic was temporarily disrupted as emergency crews extinguished the fire and cleared the debris. Investigations into the crash are ongoing.
