Dead family members notice moved Kenyans

An obituary of five family members killed in a road accident on Christmas moved Kenyans yesterday, reframing the debate on the safety of our roads.

Dressed in resplendent and matching African prints, and arranged from father to the last born, the photo made rounds on social media, drawing intense emotions.

Five members of a family in Sameta, Kisii County are among more than 11 people who died in three separate road accidents in the coastal region during Christmas festivities.

The late Robert Bundi, his wife Veronica Bundi and their three daughters Marion (their first-born), Natalia (second born) and Claire (fourth born) were involved in a road carnage on Saturday, December 25.

Before their untimely death, the couple had five children. They have left behind their two sons (third and fifth born), who are barely 10 years old.

According to an obituary published in the Daily Nation on Tuesday, January 4, the five died in a road accident at Engwata area, Mackinnon, near Voi on Christmas day morning.

“They were on their way home to Kisii from Mombasa when they met their death in a road carnage,” the obituary read in part.

Their obituary stated that Natalia, a pupil at Loreto Convent Mombasa and Claire a pupil at Sos Hermann Gmeiner Primary School, Kisauni died on the spot.

However, Marion, the firstborn daughter survived the accident but succumbed six days later at the Coast General Hospital while undergoing treatment.

Police reports indicated that the accident happened at a stretch of about 35km on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway between Mackinnon Road town, Kwale County and Manyani in Voi, Taita Taveta County.

At the time, investigators told The Standard that five people were killed on the morning of Christmas Day, two of them burnt beyond recognition when their Nairobi bound car caught fire after colliding with another headed towards Mombasa.

In the 7 am accident, three people who had been in the Mombasa bound car died on the spot while three others were taken to Moi County Referral Hospital, Voi for treatment.

Kinango Sub-County Police commander Fredrick Ombaka said the accident might have been a result of fatigue by drivers on a slippery road.

“The two occupants in the BMW (Nairobi bound) were badly burnt. The Subaru (Mombasa bound) had six occupants and three died on the spot. Drivers need to be careful and avoid driving while tired. They should take a rest,” he said.

The area Deputy Police Commander Mathion Pombo said the driver of the car headed towards Voi town direction lost control and collided head-on with a truck headed to Mombasa.

A requiem mass for the five deceased kin will be conducted on January 5 at St Francis of Assisi Customs Parish in Nyali followed by the funeral on January 7 at Nyakegogi village in Sameta sub-county, Kisii County.