Four members of a family traveling from Bomet to Nairobi were attacked and seriously injured by a panga-wielding robber along the Southern bypass, Nairobi.
One of the victims aged 20 had a cut on his neck, a second one aged 22 was injured in the forehead, neck and left ear and a third one on the left cheek and fractured leg.
A fourth victim had a head injury, police said.
The incident happened after a gang set up illegal stones on the road that deflated their car tyres forcing them to step out to attend to the puncture oblivious of the dangers waiting for them.
The elder sister, Prudence Chepng’eno, who was driving sustained a cut on the forehead and a fracture while two of his brothers were cut on the chest and neck, and neck respectively.
The family was travelling from Bomet to Nairobi and on reaching the spot, she lost control of the vehicle after the vehicle in front swerved.
Their vehicle hit a stone and two tyres burst from the impact.
Police and the family said the driver moved the vehicle to the side of the road and as they were removing the luggage from the boot to access the portable tyre inflator, a lone man wielding a panga confronted them.
He cut two of the brothers and they passed out immediately. He targeted them knowing they could fight back.
The other sister rushed to the car and locked herself inside.
“I pleaded with the robber to pick whatever he wanted since our car boot was open. He broke into the car and picked my bag and a few items before he disappeared,” she said.
The other sister immediately called the father and informed him of the attack.
However, few minutes later, the robber came back and demanded their mobile phones and other valuables.
The family was robbed of two mobile phones, Sh2,000, two laptops, a play station, ATM cards among other items.
The lady then crossed the road and alerted other motorists on the other side to come to their rescue.
As she was busy seeking help, the daring robber surfaced again but by this time other motorists had arrived at the scene and later rushed her and the two brothers to the hospital.
“My two brothers passed out and lay on the ground. I was also bleeding from the cut on the face and later learnt at the hospital that I had sustained a fracture,” she said.
A motorist had rushed to a nearby construction site and informed workers there of the incident. The workers informed police.
By then a Good Samaritan had taken the victims to hospital.
Langata Sub-County Police Commander (SCPC) Monica Kimani said three suspects were arrested inside the forest few metres from where the attack took place.
But it is not clear if any of them is linked to the attack.
The victims who are in hospital described the robber as a man aged between 25 and 30, adding that he did not conceal his face.
Kimani said the place was deserted as a section of the Southern bypass had been closed for repairs until January 5.
This is suspected to have contributed to the incident.
The road is however notorious with such attacks from gangs who at times set up spikes and boulders for robberies.
The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) announced the temporary closure of the section from Ole Sereni Interchange to Ngong Road Interchange from December 24 to allow for the rehabilitation of the expansion joints of all the bridges along the affected section.
Following the recent cases of robberies reported along the bypass, Kimani said adequate officers including undercover detectives have been deployed using both marked and unmarked cars.
A team is conducting an operation in the area to get the gang.
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