A horrific road accident along Raila Odinga Road, formerly Mbagathi Way, has raised serious safety concerns after three young Kenyans perished inside a burning luxury car over the weekend.
The victims, who were later identified as Allan Mwenda Kinyua, Eric Ochieng, and Kyalo Mutemi, were travelling in a Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) when the vehicle veered off the road and crashed.
An eyewitness, identified as June, shared a detailed account on social media, explaining why bystanders could not rescue the trapped occupants from the vehicle.
According to her testimony, the car did not catch fire immediately after colliding with the concrete footbridge on the busy highway.
This delay meant there was a brief, crucial window of time during which a successful rescue operation could have occurred.
Onlookers who rushed to the scene could hear the three occupants screaming desperately for help from inside the locked passenger cabin.
But, despite the frantic efforts of the gathered crowd, the reinforced windows of the vehicle could not be broken in time.
The rescuers lacked proper tools to penetrate the toughened automotive safety glass, leaving them to watch helplessly as the fire finally erupted.
The flames rapidly engulfed the entire chassis, trapping the young men inside and burning them beyond any hope of immediate rescue.
The fatal crash occurred at around 3:00 am on Sunday, when the vehicle, coming from the Lang'ata Road roundabout, lost control on the highway.
It mounted the pedestrian staircase of the Riara Footbridge, destroying the steel safety railings before coming to a complete stop.
Following the incident, engineers from the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) visited the scene to assess the structural damage to the footbridge.
A representative from KURA noted that while the concrete staircase remained stable, the protective metal balustrades were extensively damaged and needed replacement.
The authority has promised to repair the damaged section of the pedestrian crossing, which is highly utilized by local college students.
Before the accident, the three friends had reportedly spent several hours at a club in the Nairobi West area.
They were reportedly heading to Hurlingham to meet another associate, but they never arrived at their final destination that morning.
The police subsequently retrieved the charred remains of the victims and transported them to the city mortuary for formal identification.
Some local youths reportedly attempted to plunder personal belongings from the crash site, which sparked anger among the nearby residents.
Lang'ata police officers quickly secured the area, preventing further looting and allowing accident investigators to document the debris field properly.
Family members have since commenced burial arrangements, with a memorial service scheduled to take place in Lavington.
Investigators are examining whether high speed or a mechanical failure caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
Police records indicate that the BMW was registered under the name of Mwenda, who was among the deceased.
Local community members have renewed calls for sped bumps to be installed along this stretch.
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