A family in Nakuru is mourning the loss of two brothers who perished in a tragic road accident on Saturday evening. The siblings, David Mwangi and Paul Mwangi, lost their lives when the vehicle they were traveling in was involved in a three-car collision at Gilgil along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
At the Gilgil Sub-County Mortuary, grief-stricken relatives of the late David and Paul Mwangi grapple with the shock and pain of their sudden and tragic deaths. The brothers were heading to Naivasha when the fatal accident occurred.
David, the firstborn in the family, and Paul, the lastborn, were traveling together when their journey was abruptly cut short. David’s wife, Grace Warui, recalls the last time she saw her husband alive, saying he had left home around 6:30 AM to go to the farm in Naivasha.
“Alikuwa ametoka nyumbani around 6:30 akiwa ameenda shamba Naivasha. Saa nne unusu nilipata simu na nikapata wageni, ndio nikajua kuna shida mahali,” she recounts. (“He had left home around 6:30 AM to go to the farm in Naivasha. At around 10:30 AM, I received a call and found visitors at my home, which is when I realized something was wrong.”)
Paul had also left home earlier in the day. His widow, Anne Wangui, describes the growing anxiety she felt when she couldn’t reach him by phone.
“Nilianza kumtafuta kuanzia saa kumi, nikamtafuta hadi saa mbili. Saa nne na dakika arobaini na tano nikajaribu tena lakini simu haikuingia,” she says. (“I started looking for him from 4 PM, kept searching until 8 PM, and at 10:45 PM, I tried again, but his phone was unreachable.”)
David, Paul, and two farm workers were traveling in a Toyota Prado, now reduced to a wreck.
Traffic police reports indicate that a trailer driver attempting to overtake other vehicles collided head-on with their vehicle. One of the trailer’s containers fell onto the Prado, killing the two brothers instantly.
The two farm workers survived with injuries.
Colleagues from the Nakuru County Government, where David worked in the Education Department, remember him as a dedicated and hardworking public servant. Zippy Wangui, the CEC for Education in Nakuru County, described him as
“a very diligent and dedicated man. He loved his work and was deeply committed to all of us in the department.”
The bodies of the deceased have been moved from Gilgil to Nakuru as the grieving family begins preparations for their funerals.
The tragic loss of David and Paul Mwangi serves as a grim reminder of the dangers on Kenyan roads, as families and authorities continue to call for enhanced road safety measures.
