A viral video has captured a moment of mass embarrassment for a group of Kenyans who rushed to loot an overturned lorry, only to discover its cargo was nothing but bricks, dashing their hopes for an easy windfall.
The incident, which occurred along a major highway, is a stark and ironic illustration of a troubling national trend: the opportunistic looting of accident vehicles.
The footage, shared widely on social media, shows the immediate aftermath of the truck’s accident. As has become commonplace, a crowd quickly descended on the scene. Their first action was not to check on the driver’s wellbeing or offer assistance, but to forcibly break open the lorry’s rear doors to access its contents.
Eyewitness accounts and reports from local news outlet Ray Newsroom detail the scene. The looters, presumably expecting to find valuable “goodies” like consumer electronics, food, or other commodities, were instead met with a pile of mundane construction materials.
The video captures the palpable shift in the crowd’s mood—from frenzied excitement to sheer disbelief and bitter disappointment. Faces that moments before were filled with anticipation fell, with many individuals left staring blankly at the heap of bricks, their plans for quick profit completely undone.
This phenomenon is sadly not isolated. As noted in the reports, it has become “normal in Kenya for netizens to loot goodies from lorries that get involved in an accident.” The standard procedure, as described, involves breaking the doors, assessing the cargo, and if it’s deemed lootable, carrying it away “in bulk.”
While the incident has sparked a wave of humorous reactions online, with many Kenyans mocking the looters’ misfortune, it also raises serious questions about public morality and safety. This culture of looting not only represents a breakdown of law and order but also poses significant risks, as accident scenes are often unstable and dangerous.
The story of the brick lorry serves as an expensive and embarrassing lesson, reminding the public that not every overturned truck is a treasure trove—and that such actions ultimately come at a cost to both individual dignity and communal trust.
