Passenger dies after falling from moving matatu in Athi River
A matatu crew was chased and arrested after a passenger fell to his death from their vehicle along Nairobi- Namanga highway in Athi River.
The Super Metro matatu drove off after Joseph Mureithi fell and died on the spot. It was intercepted in the Mlolongo area by police and boda boda riders who had joined the chase.
Witnesses and the family of Mureithi claimed he was thrown out of the bus on Tuesday February 25 night moments after he had boarded.
He was a petrol station attendant in the area.
The family alleged that moments after he was ejected, the same vehicle ran over him before speeding off, leaving him fatally injured by the roadside.
Officials at the Super Metro bus said they are cooperating with investigations. They said they were yet to get full details of the incident.
The crew told police the victim missed a step as he tried to board the bus and fell off. But witnesses said there was a brief argument with the conductor as the matatu was full before Mureithi fell off.
Mureithi, a petrol attendant at a station in Athi River, had finished work and walked to a bus stop along the busy Nairobi-Namanga highway, a few metres from Shalom Hospital.
He later boarded the Super Metro bus heading to Nairobi from Kitengela at around 11pm, witnesses told police.
Moments after Mureithi boarded, the vehicle pulled away and the 25-year-old was allegedly pushed out of the moving bus and he landed on his head as the vehicle also hit him. He had a deep cut in the stomach.
The bus, registration number KDK 060H, was later towed to the Athi River Police Station. The driver and the conductor are in police custody pending a probe.
An autopsy on the body was scheduled for Thursday as detectives appealed to witnesses to come forward with any information that could shed light on the circumstances surrounding his death.
Elsewhere, seven people were Wednesday night killed in separate road accidents, police said.
The victims included five pedestrians, a driver and a rider. Police said at least 21 people were injured in the accidents. There is a campaign to address fatal road accidents in the country.