Police Friday shot in the air to disperse hundreds of youths scrambling to loot beer from an overturned lorry in Nyeri.
The lorry carrying crates of Tusker beer had rolled into a ditch at Mahigaini on the Nyeri-Nairobi road.
A cry for help by the lorry driver, who was trapped in the vehicle, bore no fruit as the youth went on a looting spree.
For about 30 minutes, the cries of the sole driver went unheeded and finally, he breathed his last.
The death of the young driver, aged about 25, still did not have any effect on the youth partaking of the free Tusker beer.
The initial attempts to remove his body, which lay trapped in the mangled front cabin for some time, were unsuccessful.
A metallic chain tied to another lorry in a bid to lift the fallen truck broke into two due to its heavy weight.
A crane driver on his way to Nyeri stopped by to give a helping hand. Rescuers and police eventually managed to remove the trapped body from the lorry.
TOOK ADVANTAGE
In the meantime, some in the crowd took advantage of the situation and managed to break into the truck where they made away with bottles of Tusker beer.
“This is Tusker and not Kathuvuria, which kills people, police should let us celebrate our good luck,” one man who was visibly drunk was heard shouting as he gulped down some beer.
The 10 armed police officers where clearly outnumbered and one had to shoot in the air to disperse the crowd.
A journalist fell down in the ensuing melee as everyone took to the nearby maize farms, fleeing from the sound of the gunshots.
Residents described the section of the road in Maru, near Karatina town, as a black spot where many accidents have occurred.
There is a sharp bend near a river which makes it difficult for heavy vehicles to navigate.
The accident happened at 11am but the crowd did not leave the scene until about 3pm.
