Family survives accident

KAYONZA- Sheer luck! This is what came in the minds of the public when a family of four narrowly escaped death when a vehicle rammed into their residential house. It was 10 p.m. on Tuesday when the vehicle crashed into the house, shattering its front wall, an accident that could easily have been fatal.

Thursday, August 04, 2011

KAYONZA- Sheer luck! This is what came in the minds of the public when a family of four narrowly escaped death when a vehicle rammed into their residential house.

It was 10 p.m. on Tuesday when the vehicle crashed into the house, shattering its front wall, an accident that could easily have been fatal.

Both the family of Claude Simbavura, 25, and the driver of the ill-fated car survived.

The young man's family live a few meters from the Kayonza-Rusumo highway in Nyamirama sector.

"We usually see it in movies, but it hit my home yesterday," said Simbavura.

He disclosed that he was not in the house when the incident occurred.

"I was out of the house, but very near when I heard a loud bang. Two speeding vehicles were involved in a head-on collision before one rammed into my house. I am lucky that my wife and two children survived,” he said.

Simbavura’s wife and children were asleep at the time of the accident.

"We heard an loud bang amid shattering of glass. I peeped through the window and saw a minibus taxi had crashed into our house," she said.

An eyewitness, Daniel Habiyakare, a neighbour of the family, said that the accident was unusual and there were suspicions that the driver was drunk at the time.

He narrated that the passenger taxi collided with a Jeep from the opposite direction, went airborne, crashed through a wooden fence before hitting the house’s front wall.

"It seems the driver continued to accelerate instead of applying brakes after colliding with another vehicle. It was a crazy short moment! The occupants of the house were fortunate to escape unhurt,” Habiyakare narrated.

Police is still investigating the cause of the accident.

But Andrien Twamugabo, the Executive Secretary of Nyamirama Sector, said the accident could have been caused by reckless driving and over speeding.

"The area is flat, no corners at all...but there was a head-on collision prior to hitting the house. Most of the accidents along this highway are a result of high speed. So, unless drivers come to their senses, I am afraid we shall remain unsafe,” he lamented.

Ends