“I am in pain, unable to eat” – Driver of truck that killed over 50 in Londiani speaks
The driver of the trailer that killed over 50 people at the Londiani junction along the Nakuru- Kericho highway Friday last week, has been found alive.
Gilbert Ntuyemungu, a 52-year-old resident of Rwanda, is recovering at the Nakuru Referral and Teaching Hospital, where he was transported following the accident on Friday last week.
Ntuyemungu told The Standard in a hospital bed interview that his truck’s brakes failed a few miles from the Londiani Junction Center.
Speaking to The Standard from his hospital bed, Ntuyemungu said the brakes of his truck failed several kilometres from the Londiani Junction Centre.
“The truck breaks failed once, and it started moving fast. I tried controlling it in vain,” he said.
He claimed to have departed the Nakuru-Simba Cement Factory after spending two days there waiting for the cement-filled vehicle that would take him from Kenya to Uganda via Busia.
The driver claimed he was with a turn-boy and was unaware of the boy’s whereabouts while being questioned by police and National Transports and Safety Authority (NTSA) personnel.
Ntuyemungu suffered numerous wounds on his back, legs, and head. When asked if he knew what had happened, he replied that all he had heard was people screaming and some trying to save their possessions.
After the encounter, he claimed he passed out and didn’t become aware of his condition until Sunday.
“I am in pain and unable to feed, I only recall trying to apply breaks, but it failed, minutes later. I heard people scream and saw others flee the centre. I don’t know there an accident that claimed lives, no one has informed me,” he stated.
The father of two said his family is in Rwanda and is not aware of the magnitude of the accident. He lost all his items in the accident.
He said his employer has since been informed of the incident and is yet to come to see him in the hospital.
Ntuyemungu said he has been a driver since 1997 and has been using the Nakuru, Kericho-Londiani route for years.
“My family is not aware I am here my phone and documents and the money I had all got lost,” he said.
Christiano Ogutu, an eyewitness in the accident and whose car was hit by the truck, said the truck was moving at a high speed and could not reach it despite driving at a speed of 50 km/hour.
Ogutu said the truck driver was almost driving in the middle of the road and that they managed to cross the first bump and were hit before crossing the second bump at the centre.
He said the truck cabin was detached from its trailer after hitting a bump at the centre and were like separate vehicles, and the driver could not control them.
