Police officers inspect the wreckage of a Range Rover that was involved in an accident with a lorry carrying maize at Maji ya Chumvi area on the Mombasa- Nairobi Highway. Two people, the driver and a passenger who were in the car, died on the spot.
This week's fatal crash at Maji ya Chumvi along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway has left a family not only grieving but also reeling from the torment of online harassment.
As photos and videos of the crash circulated widely on social media, the family of the driver of the ill-fated luxury car found themselves at the centre of a relentless wave of cyber torture.
The 7am accident at the blackspot in Mariakani involved a luxury Range Rover worth Sh20 million, which was destroyed beyond recognition.
The driver, Mr Jamal Mbarak, who had been hired to drive the vehicle to Nairobi with an unidentified female passenger a day before the crash, tragically lost his life following the August 27 crash.
The high value of the vehicle, the fact that it had not even been registered, and the sudden nature of the crash quickly made it a topic of widespread discussion online.
Within hours of the crash, graphic images and videos began to spread across various social media platforms.
These disturbing images, showing the wreckage and Mr Mbarak as the driver, were shared with little regard for the family's privacy or the gravity of the situation.
According to Mr Mbarak's uncle, Mr Junos Karama, who is the family's spokesman, photos of their relative were plastered all over the internet, including one of Mbarak lying dead on the side of the road.
“We, as the family of the boy, are not happy. It is dehumanising for people to share photos of our son. It was wrong for them to take and share these photos online. Anyone who did that should know how harmful it is, and God forbid, there may come a time when their kin is involved in such an incident,” said Mr Karama.
He asked Kenyans to be considerate when sharing such videos online as they have the potential to ruin a family.
While addressing the situation, the family also dispelled rumours circulating on social media about the crash, especially the story about an alleged side chick of the vehicle's owner, saying it was not true.
“The vehicles were two. The owner of the vehicle was staying at PrideInn with his niece and their house help. Our children, Mbarak and Rushdi Khalid, who are cousins, had been given the assignment of driving the vehicles to Nairobi,” said the family’s spokesperson.
The viral nature of the content has made it impossible for the family to avoid seeing these images.
Friends and acquaintances have reported that even those who didn’t know the victim personally have shared the content, often with captions that add to the family's pain.
According to the family, the two cousins woke up early and went to the PrideInn Hotel to pick up the vehicles. The vehicle's owner was in a second car, driven by Khalid, which was behind the Range Rover when it was hit.
“As the family of Mbarak, we are deeply saddened by how our son’s death turned into a charade of picture-sharing and rumour-mongering. Let us be more considerate in such cases,” said Mr Karama.
The lack of empathy in the comments was particularly distressing, with some users making light of the tragedy or focusing on the value of the car rather than the human loss.
The family, already struggling to come to terms with their loss, are now battling a relentless tide of online harassment. They feel violated as their loved one's final moments have been turned into a public spectacle.
