Three Kenyans die in road crash, bodies flown home

Arusha. Remains of three Kenyans who perished in a car crash near Arusha on Easter Sunday were flown home yesterday.

The trio died when two vehicles collided at Oldonyo Sambu, a laid back township on the highway to Namanga, some 25 kilometres from Arusha.

A small aircraft which carried the bodies took off from the Arusha airport shortly a around 3:30 pm headed to Nairobi with the bodies via the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA)..

To see the bodies off were Kenyans resident in Arusha and relatives and friends who drove early yesterday from Nairobi.

Due to unclear motives, the media and other members of the public were refused entry into the airport building where the bodies were kept briefly before they were loaded onto the plane.

The exercise appeared to have been coordinated by officials of the Kenyan consulate in Arusha.

Speaking on condition of anonymity one of them said Sunday’s accident could have occurred around 3pm as they received the first information at 4pm the same day.

According to him, the Kenyans who perished were identified as Robin Allan Njiru, Linet Mtio Kamau and Onesmus Mwangi.

Stella Muthoni Mungai, who is among those who were involved in the accident, was left behind as she is nursing serious injuries at the Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre (ALMC).

Until last night, it was not clear how many Tanzanians died in the road tragedy. One source told The Citizen that only one died and was identified as Peter Mushi.

However, unconfirmed information had it that there were more than one death on the Tanzanian side, with a source saying the figure could be as high as three.

When reached late yesterday on the updates, Mr Abel Paul, the acting police spokesperson in Arusha maintained that only two people lost their lives in the accident; a Tanzanian and a Kenyan.

He said the accident occurred when two vehicles, one with a local registration number T612 DNE and KC11 665G collided at Oldonyo Sambu before swerving off the road.