Locals in Kakamega town were left in shock after an ambulance ferrying a Covid-19 patient lost control and hit a 78-year-old pedestrian.
According to a witness, the speeding Red Cross ambulance rolled over several times after it lost control before hitting the man who is now receiving treatment at Kakamega Referral Hospital.
“I was picking passengers when I saw the speeding vehicle approaching. Its front tires burst leading to a loss of control. The vehicle thereafter rolled, hitting the old man in the process,” he said.
Residents say they were shocked to see the vehicle speeding on the faulty road, which they say has lots of corners and heavy traffic.
“We were standing on the roadside when we saw the ambulance approaching at a high speed. The driver was obstructed by a matatu when he was trying to negotiate a corner. He slammed on emergency brakes leading the vehicle to overturn,” one of the onlookers told a local publication.
The residents broke the window of the wrecked vehicle to save the unconscious driver and his passenger, regardless of the hazard they were putting themselves on.
“We removed the patient who was on oxygen, the driver, the nurse and helped them board a nearby tuk-tuk and rushed them to the nearby health facility,” a motorcyclist said.
While confirming the incident, Kakamega Health CEC Collins Matemba said that the ill-fated ambulance was ferrying the patient from Likuyani sub-county quarantine facility to Kakamega PGH before the incident happened.
Matemba decried the huge bill levied on the vehicles that have been leased from Red Cross. He said that each of the nine vehicles cost them Ksh7M per month to maintain.
“Although these vehicles are expensive to maintain they give us good service, and with this accident, some of our locals will miss their services,” he said.
