mzeiya
Elder Lister
A driver of a 14-seater matatu became a real-life hero on Monday, May 30, after he saved the lives of fourteen students aboard his vehicle when it caught fire before burning to ashes along the Kisii-Kilgoris highway.
Speaking to the media, Henry Nyambega revealed that he became concerned after a number of passengers began coughing shortly after the vehicle made a stopover at Nyakegogi centre.
A quick look through his rear-view mirror, he saw that smoke was billowing from the and made a split-second decision to pull over and order the passengers out of the vehicle.
"The passengers were overwhelmed with the smoke. I immediately stopped the vehicle along the road and asked te conductor to let the travellers out and guide them to safety," Nyambega stated.
Suspecting that the smoke might have come from the battery, he and his conductor lifted the co-driver's seat. While the power unit was intact, a ball of fire emerged from underneath the vehicle, forcing them to flee.
"As we continued trying to establish the origin of smoke, a ring of fire emerged from underneath the vehicle, spreading throughout the vehicle, burning it down completely," the heroic driver narrated.
Fortunately, no passenger was harmed nor property lost, save for the vehicle. Nyambega disclosed that the vehicle had undergone service before the trip and had no mechanical problems at the time of the incident.
Police officers who responded to the distress call by the passengers have launched investigations into the inferno. A shell of what remained after the vehicle burnt was taken to the Itumbe police station for further assessment.
The owner of the vehicle, who arrived at the scene, claimed losses of undisclosed value. The students who were in the vehicle were allowed to proceed with their journey using an alternative motor vehicle.
The incident happened barely a month after a bus full of passengers burst into flames along the Nairobi-Kisumu highway on May 2. According to the passengers, the 57- seater caught fire following a tire burst.
Property of unknown value was destroyed by the fire as the travellers told the press that efforts to pull out some of the luggage from the lower cabin were in vain due to the fast-spreading fire.
According to Howstuffworks.com, leading causes of car fires include leaks in the fuel system, electrical system failures, overheating engines and converters, poor maintenance, and design flaws.
