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| Africa Horn |
| Blast survivors talk of lucky escape |
| 2012-03-12 |
| [Daily Nation (Kenya)] He was on top of the bus at around 7.30pm when he heard an kaboom a few metres away that did not sound like a gunshot. Austin Ochieng, the manager of City to City bus that operates between Nairobi and Sori in Suba District immediately ducked and took cover, burying his head in the luggage that was on the carrier of the bus. He maintained the cover for few seconds before he decided to descend from the bus. Most of his colleagues had first ignored the blast, assuming it was just a tyre burst. Securely packed As the manager, he had gone up the bus to check whether the luggage was securely packed before the bus left for Sori. "I went down very fast when I saw people running away from that area, but just before I landed down, there was another kaboom," said Austin. Though the natural instinct is that people will often run away from any danger, Austin says many were rushing to where there was the kaboom, oblivious of the imminent danger they were exposing themselves to. He rushed to a nearby toilet where he found a woman in a black skirt and blouse writhing in pain. He got hold of the lady who was lying facing down and tried to turn. She told him: "Nasikia damu imejaa kwa kifua." (I feel my lungs are full of blood). I tried turning her, but she never spoke again... "I did not go far, and after everything had cooled down, I went back to the lady and realised that she was motionless." Austin said he sought the help of his colleagues and took the woman near Muoroto Police Post. For 40-year-old Norman Munene, growing up near a military training camp in Gilgil turned out to be a life-saving event. He had learnt the sound of gunshots and other artillery that soldiers used during their training sessions. This is how he could pick out the sound of the grenades that went off almost simultaneously at the bridge on Landhies Road. "I immediately asked everyone around me to lie down," the senior operations manager of Eldoret Express said from his hospital bed in Kenyatta on Sunday. Munene recalled hearing successive blasts near the bridge before he was thrown off the ground by a third blast. But he managed to stay on the ground, something he says saved his life as the pellets from the grenade tore through the bodies of those who stood near him. Although Munene narrowly survived the blast, the blood soaked on his clothes was evidence enough of the harm that befell operators and passengers at the Machakos Country Bus on Saturday night. And Eunice Ochaka, a used clothes dealer, was on her way to Kisumu with other traders who were going to sell their wares there the following day. "I had just booked a seat with the Sony Classic bus and was taking a soda in the seats near the bus, waiting for my colleagues to arrive," she said. Eunice suddenly heard a loud blast. "At first, I thought it was an accident where vehicles had ran into each other," she said writhing in pain, as her shoulders were badly injured. |
| Posted by:Fred |