A nine-year-old boy is being celebrated for his heroic actions after he helped rescue his mother and eight other passengers from the wreckage of a minivan that crashed into a river in Murang'a County on the night of Saturday, 25 October 2025, an incident that resulted in the deaths of six people, including five of his relatives.

Boniface Njoroge, a Grade Three pupil at Gatunguru Primary School, was travelling with his family from a dowry ceremony in Kiambu County when the driver lost control of the vehicle along the Choma–Kahunyo Road. The minivan veered off the Wacengu Bridge and plunged into the Kiama River below.

As the vehicle submerged and began to fill with water, Njoroge and another boy managed to escape through a window. Instead of fleeing, he ran to the roadside to summon help, an act of bravery that led to the timely rescue of nine survivors, including his mother, Alice Wangechi. “I jumped out as it was sinking. I went to seek help,” Njoroge recounted to journalists.

Wangechi expressed her initial terror, believing she had lost her son in the chaos. “When the ill-fated vehicle plunged into the river, water began to fill inside... I was told he went by the roadside to call for help,” she said. Sadly, Wangechi's husband was among the six people who perished in the crash.

A Community in Mourning

The accident has left the community of Ndia Village in Gatanga in shock. Murang'a County officials confirmed the death toll and the number of injured. According to a police report and county officials, the deceased included five members of the same family: Amos Kihara Kamau, Alice Wambui Mwangi, Elijah Kamau Macharia, Peter Mwangi Macharia, and Paul Karanja Macharia. An unidentified woman also died in the crash.

Murang'a County Health Chief Officer Eliud Maina stated that the vehicle was carrying 17 people—16 adults and one minor—at the time of the accident. The eleven survivors were rushed to Kirwara Level Four and Murang'a Level Five hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical. The driver, who survived, reportedly told rescuers the vehicle's brakes had failed just before the plunge.

Road Safety Under Scrutiny

This tragedy is the latest in a series of fatal road accidents in Murang'a and across Kenya, intensifying scrutiny on the state of road infrastructure and vehicle maintenance. Survivors and local leaders pointed to the hazardous condition of the Wacengu Bridge, noting its lack of guardrails as a critical failure. “That bridge is bad... if it is not fixed it will cause many more accidents,” said survivor Simon Kamau.

The incident occurred on a weekend that saw a nationwide road death toll of 23, according to police figures. Authorities have consistently linked the high number of crashes to reckless driving, speeding, poorly maintained vehicles, and inadequate road infrastructure. Data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has previously ranked Murang'a among the counties with the highest rates of road accident fatalities, highlighting the urgent need for intervention. This crash serves as a grim reminder of the human cost of road accidents and the pressing need for enhanced safety measures on Kenya's roads, particularly in rural areas where infrastructure often lags.