Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

A traffic police officer was knocked down and killed by a speeding car as he and his team tried to clear a stalled tricycle on Thika Road near Thika.

Corporal James Mutunga, attached to the Northern Corridor Transit Patrol Unit (NCTPU) was in the company of other officials from the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and had stopped to attend to a stalled tricycle, commonly referred to as Tuktuk when a speeding car hit them.

The car speeding from Kenol’s direction towards Thika rammed into the Tuktuk and knocked down three other pedestrians before stalling.

Due to the impact, the officer sustained serious injuries on the head and was rushed to Thika Level Four Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The driver of the Tuktuk was seriously injured and was undergoing treatment at the said hospital.

The KeNHA officers sustained slight injuries and both were treated and discharged in fair condition. NCTPU also works with the Kenya National Highways Authority KeNHA to manage traffic flow on the major highways.

The body was removed to General Kago Funeral Home for an autopsy.

Both motor vehicles were towed to the post pending inspection as police launched investigations.

The unit aims, among others, to combat cargo theft and general crime along the Northern Corridor route in the country.

The move to establish the unit was part of the plan to ensure that the goods move faster after the government warned that the government would not tolerate the continued theft of goods in transit, and directed that a joint unit be constituted.

The unit replaced the Highway Patrol Unit (HPU) which was established for the same purpose but focused more on traffic issues.

Elsewhere along the Naivasha-Nairobi Highway within the Murengeti area, Tigoni, a rider died after colliding with a lorry.

Police said the driver of the lorry had failed to keep to his lane leading to the collision, adding that the rider sustained severe head injuries and died on the spot. The motor vehicle and the motorcycle were towed to the station yard pending inspection.

Police in Nairobi are also investigating a case in which a seven-year-old boy was found dead after he drowned in a river in Kiambiu slums, Nairobi.

The boy and his friends had gone to play in the Kosovo Kiambiu area on the eve of the New Year but failed to return to his home.

This prompted a search overnight which later revealed that he had slipped into a river meandering through the slum and drowned.