The Kenya Railways (KR) is on the spot after a man working on a section of a damaged railway line in Kijabe was killed by mudslide while eight others escaped with serious injuries.
The casual laborers were working on Saturday night which is against the curfew rules when the incident occurred following heavy rains in the area.
Following the move, the repair of the railway line was suspended as residents and area leaders pointed an accusing finger at the contractor involved in the works.
Last week, a section of the line which is on the border of Nakuru and Kiambu was swept off by floods cutting off operations between the Nairobi-Nakuru route.
Karanja lashed out at the engineer involved in the works wondering why he was working past 7pm despite the ongoing curfew.
“There is total negligence from the part of Kenya Railways and the engineer for working against set time and this has led to the death of my brother,” he said.
Karanja noted that the workers were inside a tunnel which collapsed trapping them under before help came from members of the public.
One of the rescuers Joseph Njuguna narrated how they heard screams from the scene at around 8pm and rushed in to assist those trapped.
According to him, they managed to rescue eight of the workers but due to rains and darkness they could not trace the ninth victim.
“The contractor has been working in the night despite the ongoing curfew and in the process there was mudslide leading to one death,” he said.
