15 die as matatus collide head-on
Road carnage: Webuye Base Commander Christopher Moseeh and the public view the mangled wreckage of one of the matatus at Webuye Police Station on Tuesday. The matatu was in a head-on collision on Monday night. Photo/JARED NYATAYA
Fifteen people died and 23 others were seriously injured when two matatus collided near Webuye.
Thirteen passengers died on the spot in the Monday night horror crash while the other two died at Webuye District Hospital.
Twenty-two passengers, including an infant and both matatu drivers, were admitted at Webuye hospital in stable condition while a female passenger who was in critical condition was taken to Eldoret’s Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The accident occurred at Nzioa River Bridge on the Eldoret-Malaba highway.
According to eyewitnesses, the two matatus, one travelling from Bungoma and the other from Eldoret, collided at the bridge at 7.30pm as the drivers tried to avoid a tractor which had stalled on the road.
Bungoma police boss Thomas Matano said the tractor had been impounded and its driver arrested.
In another accident on the same road, six soldiers were seriously injured at Matisi when the driver of their truck lost control and crashed.
The soldiers, who were on their way to Nairobi after a six-month operation in Mt Elgon, were taken to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
On the Kericho/Kisii highway, two people, among them a civic leader, died when the motorcycle they were riding was involved in an accident with a matatu at Chelilis area on Monday night.
Died on spot
One other passenger on the motorbike was admitted in critical condition at the Litein Mission Hospital in Bureti District.
The councillor, identified as Edward Laboso Ebelas died at around 7 pm on Monday while undergoing treatment at the same hospital.
He was the Kapbengwet ward councillor in Konoin constituency.
Bureti deputy police boss, Mr Patrick Nandi said the motorbike rider, identified as Richard Kiptoo Bii, died on the spot.
He said three people were said to have been riding on the motorbike when the accident occurred.
No one was injured in the matatu, he said.
In Mumias district, a cyclist and pedestrian were killed in separate incidents on Monday when they were hit by speeding vehicles.
Reckless driving
A matatu ploughed into John Atitwa, 56, as he cycled along the Busia-Mumias road near Lung’anyiro trading centre in Matungu division on Monday morning, killing him instantly.
At Malaha market in East Wanga, another man was hit and killed by a matatu, which did not stop.
Road accidents in the area are on the rise with the traffic department blaming reckless driving for the increase.
Recently, six passengers on a Kakamega-bound matatu were seriously injured when their vehicle burst a tyre, rolled and landed in a ditch.
Meanwhile, the decomposing body of an unknown woman was yesterday discovered by residents of Emasanda village near Ekero trading centre in Mumias.
Chopped off
The legs and hands had been chopped off. Residents said that it was not the first time such a gruesome find had been made in the area.
“We have discovered three bodies in this area recently and it seems people kill the victims and dump them here,” Nucleus Sub-location sub-chief Mr Asman Juma said.
Stories by Bernard Kwalia, Sollo Kiragu and John Shilitsa
