Angry residents of Kasese in Muhoroni Sub-County, Kisumu County, set four lorries on fire on Thursday evening, 15 October, after a person was killed in a road accident involving a lorry, in the latest case of crowds turning on vehicles in the aftermath of a fatal crash.

Citizen Digital reported that the victim was standing by the roadside when he was hit by a speeding lorry. Preliminary accounts indicate that the crash may have happened as vehicles were overtaking at high speed, with two vehicles approaching each other from opposite directions.

The Kenya News Agency (KNA) described the incident as a fatal boda boda accident, while Citizen Digital's account referred to a person standing at the side of the road. The identity of the deceased had not been made public.

Residents blame speeding trucks

Soon after the crash, a crowd set ablaze four lorries, both outlets reported. Residents accused drivers using the road of habitually speeding and putting the lives of pedestrians and other road users at risk.

According to Citizen Digital, the lorries are used to ferry building materials for road construction projects under way in the area. Locals had reportedly raised concerns about the speed at which the heavy vehicles travel through the area.

It was not immediately clear whether anyone had been arrested over the arson, or what the value of the destroyed vehicles was. The reports also did not say whether the driver of the lorry involved in the crash was injured or taken into custody.

A recurring pattern after crashes

The torching of the trucks adds to a growing list of incidents in which crowds have destroyed vehicles after fatal accidents. In January, boda boda riders burned a matatu after a deadly crash along Juja Road in Nairobi, The Star reported, while an irate crowd in Salgaa, Nakuru County, set a bus on fire following a deadly crash involving a motorcycle late last year, according to the Daily Nation.

Transport operators have previously urged the government to act against such attacks. The Mass Mobility Operators Association has said its members have lost millions of shillings to vehicles destroyed by angry crowds, often with no certainty of insurance compensation, People Daily reported.

Road safety concerns in Muhoroni

Muhoroni sits along key routes linking Kisumu to the Londiani and Kericho highways, and the area has recorded several deadly crashes in recent years. In January, six people were killed in an accident on the Londiani-Muhoroni road, The Star reported.

The latest incident is likely to renew calls for stricter enforcement of speed limits on roads used by construction traffic, as well as for residents to report crashes to the police rather than take the law into their own hands.

Photo: Mwe17 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), a road in Muhoroni (file image)