Boda boda operators torch matatu after fatally knocking down delivery rider at Gitaru Interchange

A matatu was Wednesday set on fire after it fatally knocked down a boda boda rider at the Gitaru Interchange, Kikuyu, Kiambu County.

Witnesses said the matatu driver was on the wrong side of the road.

Police confirmed the incident.

Traffic was brought to a standstill along the Nairobi–Nakuru highway in Gitaru on Wednesday, December 31, after the boda boda riders torched the 14-seater matatu following the fatal accident.

The matatu, reportedly operated by NNK SACCO, allegedly struck and killed a 22-year-old boda boda rider who was delivering a carpet.

Witnesses said the vehicle was making a turn at an unsafe spot when it hit the rider, triggering outrage among fellow operators.

In retaliation, the riders blocked the busy highway before setting the matatu ablaze, drawing large crowds and causing major traffic delays.

The matatu driver escaped the scene for his safety.

Images and videos from the scene showed the vehicle fully engulfed in flames, with thick smoke rising into the air as onlookers watched.

No police officers or firefighters were immediately present.

The police arrived at the scene and moved the body to the mortuary pending an autopsy while the wreckage was towed to the local police station.

The incident is the latest in a series of similar attacks, with boda boda riders increasingly accused of taking the law into their own hands after fatal crashes.

Recent cases in Salgaa and Nairobi’s Eastlands area have seen buses and minibuses torched under similar circumstances.

Other vehicles have been burnt on Thika Road.

There are calls for new stringent laws to govern the boda boda sector.