Crumbling wall kills Teenage Motorcycle rider and his lady fare amid pounding rains in Arusha City

Two people, a male motorcycle tax rider ​and his female passenger, lost their lives when a concrete wall fence collapsed and crushed them to death as they were sheltering from heavy rains, currently pounding in Arusha City.

The accident occurred at Unga-Limited area near both the Hindu Mandal Hospital and the Arusha Fire Brigade base.

The Commander in-charge of the Arusha Fire Department, Osward Mwanjejele confirmed the incident, explaining that the bodies were later retrieved and taken to the Regional Mount Meru Hospital Mortuary.

The Boda-Boda operator is reported to be a teenager aged 17 called Salim Salum while his fare was described to be a 22 year old lady, Witness Chacha, both being residents of Sokon-One Ward in Arusha-Urban precinct.

It seems the motorcycle rider was taking his passenger home in the evening of November 30, 2024 because the roads were jammed with traffic because Heads of States from the East African Region were in town.

With public transport at standstill, the lady, Witness Chacha, decided to summon a motorcycle which was the only option left to get her home in time as the rains were starting.

However as they rode, rains increased to an extent that they decided to stop at the roadside waiting for it to abate.

The victims took shelter under the wall, not knowing that the rains had taken toll onto the infrastructure and that soon the wall would give in to the soggy ground and caved in.

Some eyewitnesses who happened to be around the area when the accident occurred, say they saw the two people arrive, park the motorcycle and proceed to stand under the wall.

“But shortly after the wall came crumbling with the resulting debris burying the two boda-boda riders as rain continued to precipitate heavily.

Part of the wall also fell onto a vehicle which was parked nearby, ​it a Toyota Noah minivan which was badly destroyed​, but fortunately there was nobody inside.