The debate about public safety versus law enforcement has emerged once again after a nasty police chase ended in a six-month pregnant woman losing her life and that of her unborn baby.
Witness accounts reveal that Ms Eunice Maguke was arranging her groceries when the lorry rammed into her kiosk, killing her instantly.
“I saw a lorry speeding towards our kiosks and within seconds screams filled the air and the next minute I saw Ms Maguke’s body. The driver tried to escape but boda boda riders intercepted him and beat him up. He was rushed to a local hospital,” Ms Gladys Nekesa, who owns an adjacent kiosk, told a local daily.
More drama, injuries
More drama was to ensue at the scene when the owner of the lorry arrived and tred to bar journalists from investigating the grisly accident.
Several eyewitnesses interviewed by said they saw a police vehicle chasing the lorry before it rammed into the grocery shop, but the police reportedly turned back after the accident — rather than check on the victims.
Police drove away
“I saw the police vehicle make a U-turn after they realised the lorry had been involved in an accident. It is not clear where the lorry was heading with the construction material,” said a resident who sought anonymity.
Police have since not explained the circumstances behind the ill-fated pursuit, whether the driver had committed a traffic offence, and why they did not arrest the owner when he arrived at the scene of the accident.
Similarly, they have yet to give explanations why the vehicle that was pursuing the lorry took off after the incident.