Just before dawn on February 20, James Onyango was awoken by a loud bang at his residence in Dagoretti Corner.
At first, he thought burglars had struck in the neighbourhood. Unbeknown to him, there had been an accident along Ngong’ Road, just five metres from his house.
A SUV had hit the guardrails of a bridge, then plunged into the railway track about five metres below. Mr Onyango heard desperate screams for help and instinctively rushed out to find out what was going on.
Little did he know that life was ebbing away from his grandson “Eddy” Edmond Hassan Owino.
“When I got there, it was a horrifying site. There were already other volunteers on the scene. The victims were trapped in the mangled wreck of the vehicle and we were afraid of worsening their situation,” he said.
They, however, managed to pull out three victims quite fast. After hours of trying, they reached the last one but sadly, he did not make it.
Mr Onyango returned home and started preparing for the morning service. In church, he knelt down and prayed for the affected families.
An uncovered storm water drainage system pictured in the middle of Ngong Road at the Showground Junction.
Rescue mission
But at 11am, Mr Onyango received a call from one of his nephews, asking him if he was aware of what had happened earlier.
“I told him I wasn’t aware of anything but I immediately had this gut feeling all wasn’t well. He then broke the news that my grandson Eddy had lost his life in an early morning road accident along Ngong’ Road around my house,” Mr Onyango said.
Numb, he quickly found a spot along the way to his house to sit down.
“My legs gave away; I could not walk. I told him he must have been mistaken because I was at the scene and did not see Eddy among the victims,” he said, adding that he immediately thought of Eddy’s father, Mr William Owino, who worked at Kenya’s embassy in Israel.
Mr Onyango is Mr Owino’s uncle.
How could this be? He was such a young, energetic man. How did he fail to recognise his own blood during the rescue mission hours earlier?
“Questions were racing through my mind. Did I just pray for myself?” he wondered. “I could not believe that it was my nephew at the scene. If only there were lights on the road, he would still be here,” Mr Onyango said as he fought back tears.
“There are no traffic lights here. There are no road signs, no bumps; it’s also dangerous for school children,” Mr Onyango lamented.
Eddy’s girlfriend, a Canadian citizen, was among the victims.
Loss of grandson
He had just completed building a foundation for his house and had been planning to introduce his girlfriend to his family at home. “He was happy, cheerful, and a go-getter,” Mr Onyango said.
About 12 hours later, Mr Onyango was being consoled by family and friends for the loss of his grandson. The terrible thought that he could have done more was itching his soul.
“Only time will heal us,” he said.
Eddy was laid to rest on March 5 at his parents’ home in Ahono village, Marenyo Sub-location, Gem Constituency in Siaya County.
An incomplete pedestrian footbridge found along Ngong Road at the Showground Junction.
Earlier this month, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) released a survey on the most dangerous roads in Nairobi.
Outer Ring Road accounted for 44 of the 371 deaths recorded last year. It was followed closely by Waiyaki Way, which claimed 38 lives, and Mombasa Road with 29 deaths.
The northern and southern bypasses also recorded the same number of deaths as Mombasa Road at 29 fatalities each. The eastern bypass recorded 27 deaths, while Thika Superhighway had 25. BY DAILY NATION