Nairobi — Prime Minister Raila Odinga's son was briefly admitted to a city hospital yesterday after he and his friends were involved in an early morning car crash.

Raila Junior and his friend Pepe Kamau were drag racing at 3am down Valley Road from the popular Alfajiri restaurant and bar ­¯ co-owned by Freddie Michuki, son of the Environment and acting Finance minister ¯ when they crashed their vehicles and landed in a ditch near the Integrity Centre.

Raila Junior was in a Mercedes Benz while Kamau, the eldest son of retired CID chief Joseph Kamau, and a friend Jeffrey Kiboro were in the latest BMW model.

They were rescued by Joseph Muhoho, son of Kenya Airports Authority's boss George Muhoho, who took them to the Nairobi Hospital.

Raila Jr was treated and discharged after a few hours while Pepe and Jeffrey were admitted. Sources told the Nairobi Star that Pepe underwent surgery yesterday afternoon and was still unconscious. Details of the nature of the injuries he and Kiboro suffered were not available.

Junior, 29 years old, went to Consolata and then the elite St Mary's School in Nairobi before proceeding to Leeds University to study economics. He decided not to work for his father's company Spectre International on his return to Kenya and is now trying his hand in the petroleum products business.

Pepe, also in his late 20s, works for Kaman, his father's security firm which trains private investigators.

Earlier reports that Jeffrey Kiboro is the younger son of former Nation Media Group CEO Wilfred D. Kiboro were denied as he was said to be at the family farm in Rift Valley. "People should check instead of going ahead to imply or even say it is my son," Kiboro said on telephone.

A watchman on duty at the BP Shell petrol station said he heard the two vehicles speeding down Valley Road moments before the accident.

The watchman said the Mercedes was banged on the left front side, swiveled to face the direction it had been coming from, and the lurched into a ditch. The BMW had a badly dented bonnet and landed in a ditch near Integrity Centre.

The Prime Minister and his wife Ida visited the scene at 5 am just before the vehicles were towed away to Kilimani police station.

"I saw many big cars arriving at the scene and then I saw Mama Ida and Raila come out of their cars. They walked over to where the Mercedes was and talked to some of the policemen who were there before they left the scene. The cars were moved soon afterwards", said an eyewitness who declined to be identified.

Yesterday Ida said her son was had left hospital but declined to comment further. "He is safe now. He has been discharged and all is well".

Nairobi Commandant James Onyango and traffic police visited the scene but were unusually reticent.

"We cannot give you details now, but just know that we are investigating the accident," said an officer at city's traffic headquarters.

They refused to give the cause of the accident or even whether they were going to establish the state of the drivers at the time they crashed. At the police station, police refused to let the media take photos of the vehicles whose registration number plates were removed.