Citizen TV Journalists Praised For Saving Lives In Nyeri Highway Accident

Citizen TV journalists Martin Munene and Ephantus Macharia were on Friday, December 29 praised for their heroic acts after they rescued passengers trapped following a road accident along the Nyeri-Nyahururu Highway.

The accident occurred on Thursday night, December 28 and saw seven people killed in a head-on collision that involved a saloon car and a matatu at the Solio area.

The incident also left more than ten others with multiple injuries, requiring hospitalization at Mary Immaculate, Nyeri County Referral Hospital, and Kenyatta Othaya Annex.

Scene following an accident along Nyeri-Nyahururu Highway on December 28, 2023. /ST JOHN AMBULANCE

St John Ambulance revealed in a statement that the journalists, alongside their colleague from Kameme TV, sprung into action and rescued the passengers instead of merely reporting on the accident in real time.

"St John Ambulance commends journalists from Kameme TV Purity Wahu, Citizen TV Camera operator Ephantus Macharia and reporter Martin Munene among others for swinging into action to rescue a number of trapped passengers involved in a road accident in Nyeri yesterday," the statement read.

The scribes were the first responders on the scene, having come from a burial ceremony when they suspended their reporting duties to aid in rescue efforts following the accident which caused a traffic jam.

They broke open doors to free those trapped and transported them to nearby hospitals in their vehicles.

Furthermore, in a remarkable show of solidarity, Nyeri Senator Wahome Wamatinga, who had also attended the same burial, actively participated in rescuing the injured while promptly summoning ambulances from major hospitals.

According to Nyeri County Police Boss Benjamin Rotich, the fatal accident resulted in the immediate loss of four children’s lives.

The matatu was en route from Nyahururu to Nyeri at the time of the collision, while the saloon car was transporting relatives from Nyeri to Nyahururu.

Photos seen by Viral Tea showcased the extent of the crash involving both of the vehicles with the saloon car suffering most of the damage.

On Monday, December 18, Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen confirmed that 3,999 people died in road accidents between January and December 7, 2023, a reduction number from the 4,352 recorded within the same period in 2022.

Scene following an accident along Nyeri-Nyahururu Highway on December 28, 2023. /ST JOHN AMBULANCE