Emmanuel DeLeon, 13, Kairu Winkelpleck, 6, and their older sister, Njeri DeLeon, 16, perished in the deadly collision that happened on January 4, 2026, along the Naivasha highway.
When the disaster occurred, the kids were traveling to Kenya with their parents. Three siblings who perished in a car accident in Kenya during what was supposed to be a happy family vacation are being mourned by a Kenyan family in Waterloo, Iowa.
On January 4, 2026, Emmanuel DeLeon, 13, Kairu Winkelpleck, 6, and their older sister, Njeri DeLeon, 16, perished in the deadly collision in Naivasha along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway. When the disaster occurred, the kids were traveling to Kenya with their parents.
While Njeri suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital in Nairobi, where she was put into a medically induced coma, Emmanuel and Kairu perished at the scene. Njeri died on Friday night, a few days after the collision, despite the efforts of the medical personnel.
Wangui Ndirangu, a former resident of New Jersey who currently resides in Iowa, is the father of the three children. They are the grandkids of the late Jim Ndirangu and Charity Ndirangu, as well as the nieces and nephews of Kairu Ndirangu, Wamuyu, Njeri, and Daisy Kariuki.
The family’s American and Kenyan communities have been rocked by the killings.
Family is still in Kenya.
The parents have stayed in Kenya to make funeral arrangements after surviving the tragedy without suffering any significant injuries. Every day from 5 to 7 p.m., meetings are held at the International Christian Church Centre on Mombasa Road in Nairobi.
The International Christian Center in Nairobi will host a memorial ceremony for all three children on Friday, January 23, starting at 10:00 a.m. On Saturday, January 24, at 7 a.m., there will be a funeral service at Kariokor Crematorium. deaths coincide with a resurgence of worries about road safety in Kenya, especially on key highways where fatal collisions persist despite continuous safety initiatives.
