Rage in Ruaka as Residents Burn Brand New Ksh 27M Land Cruiser to Express Anger
Chaos erupted in Ruaka Estate, Kiambu County, on Monday evening after an angry mob set fire to a brand-new Land Cruiser worth Ksh 27 million. The incident occurred after the vehicle, which was speeding along the Ruaka-Ndenderu Highway, hit and killed two pedestrians attempting to cross the road.
The accident, which happened at around 6:30 p.m., claimed the lives of a man and a woman who died instantly after suffering severe head and limb injuries. The Land Cruiser’s front end was heavily damaged due to the impact. As news of the tragedy spread, outraged residents quickly gathered at the scene, blocking the highway with rocks and other debris in protest.
“We are tired of losing lives on this highway. The government has ignored our calls for a footbridge, and now two more lives are gone,” one protester lamented.
Efforts by police officers to calm the crowd were futile, as the residents, angered by the government’s inaction, resorted to violence. Videos circulating online showed the luxury vehicle fully engulfed in flames, with local police struggling to control the situation.
“We tried to disperse the crowd, but they were too furious. Their anger is understandable, given the number of accidents that have happened here,” a police officer at the scene said.
Residents accuse the government of negligence, citing the lack of a footbridge as a major contributor to the frequent accidents on this stretch of road. The highway has been notorious for pedestrian accidents, with the latest tragedy occurring just two weeks earlier when a pedestrian was struck and killed by a speeding truck.
In response to that earlier incident, residents had also barricaded the road and built makeshift speed bumps, an act they said was necessary to force motorists to slow down.
According to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), pedestrian fatalities continue to rise. The agency reports that 3,056 lives were lost in road accidents between January and August 2024, compared to 2,900 in the same period in 2023, with pedestrians being the most affected.
As investigations continue, the bodies of the two victims were taken to Kiambu Hospital for postmortem.
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Rage in Ruaka as Residents Burn Brand New Ksh 27M Land Cruiser to Express Anger
