Aimable Mbonimana is a survivor of the tragic road accident that occurred yesterday morning in a busy shopping area in Kicukiro, a Kigali suburb, claiming the lives of at least seven people and injuring nine others.

Mbonimana was driving a Toyota Corolla that was hit by a Mercedes-Benz truck that suffered break failure on its descent from Gahanga down to Kicukiro Centre.

He was heading to the nearby Kicukiro District head offices when he saw an oncoming speeding truck behind him before it hit the left side of his saloon car from the rear.

"I saw the truck speeding down from Nyanza right behind me,” he said. "In a split-second I fidgeted to get out of the way and somehow escaped narrowly as the truck sped past knocking down everything in its path,” Mbonimana said.

The visibly shaken motorist added: "I was alone in my car and still can’t figure out how I have survived. My car was right in front of the truck, it’s a miracle God has saved me.”

Innocent Twagirimana, a taxi-moto rider, was at the same spot as one of his colleagues who lost his life when the truck, laden with construction sand, rammed into the busy trading area.

"I can’t find the words to explain what I saw,” he told Saturday Times from the scene of the accident moments after the tragedy. "We were a group of about 50 motorcyclists in the same area where we normally wait for passengers from, when, all of a sudden, I heard desperate cries and shouts,” Twagirimana said,

"I don’t remember what happened immediately after seeing a truck in our midst, I only found myself lying on lawn on the roadside, then I saw blood, and mutilated bodies and human organs all over the place, it’s so terrifying. I don’t know how I’m still alive, I lost my good friend who was right next to me when it happened.”

Aristarque Sengimana, an MTN agent in the area, witnessed the ill-fated truck hit a woman who was walking with a baby strapped to her back. He said the woman did not die but he wasn’t sure about the fate of the baby.

The heavily-loaded truck hit several vehicles, commercial motorcyclists and pedestrians before ramming into a KBS bus.

Jean-Marie Ndushabandi, the spokesperson for Traffic and Road Safety Department of the Rwanda National Police, confirmed that seven people, including the driver of the truck, died in the accident.

Twelve other vehicles were involved in the accident.

The injured were taken to Central University Hospital of Kigali, while the dead were taken to Kacyiru District Hospital and Rwanda Military Hospital-Kanombe, Ndushabandi said.

He blamed the accident on break failure and urged motorists to always ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy before hitting the road.

Police spokesperson Celestin Twahirwa later told Saturday Times that two people had already been discharged from hospital while five others had also showed good improvement.

"Even the ninth person is responding to treatment well,” he said, adding, "None of them is in critical condition and we expect them to be out of hospital soon.”

By press time, Police had not yet released identities of the victims of the accident. 

Meanwhile, at the scene of the accident, police officers from the Firefighting Brigade and volunteers swung into action to clear wreckage and wash the bloodied tarmac.

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