Four die, 10 injured after matatu rams into lorry in Kisii

Four people died on Tuesday after the matatu they were travelling in rammed into another vehicle at Daraja Moja in Kisii Town.

Ten others, among them two primary school children who were on a boda boda going home from school, were injured in the accident.

Mr Bernad Kengere, a witness, said the driver of the matatu lost control of his vehicle and rammed into the other vehicle, a Canter that had slowed down while trying to avoid hitting a pothole.

"I was washing my car, near the bridge when we saw the matatu speeding; the Canter had slowed down to evade the deep potholes. That’s when we heard a loud bang," he said.

Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital Chief Executive Enoch Ondari said one of the accident victims died on the spot while the other three were pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

"The two school children involved only sustained minor injuries and they are out of danger, but a majority of those injured had major injuries. They are undergoing specialised treatment at the moment," he said.

"We suspect that some of those injured have spinal cord injuries and have been taken to be X-rayed so that we can refer them to facilities that are capable of handling them," he added.

Kisii County Police Commander Simon Kiragu said the cause of the accident could not be immediately established.

INVESTIGATIONS ONGOING

"We have confirmed that the matatu rammed into the rear of the lorry at the bridge and investigations are ongoing to ascertain what happened," he said.

"The driver of the matatu died instantly," he added.

But eyewitnesses pointed to brake failure on the matatu as the possible cause of the accident.

Mr Kiragu commended the speedy response of the county emergency response team, which sent more than three ambulances in less than five minutes to assist the injured.

Governor James Ongwae, who visited the scene of the accident and later the victims at hospital, said he had called the Kenya National Highways Authority to inquire about the bad state of the road.

"They have promised to send a team tomorrow to address the issue," he said.

"We have repeatedly talked to these people about the state of the road. We cannot have potholes in the middle of a bridge and we hope something will be done to avert further loss of life," Governor Ongwae said.

Mr Ongwae urged drivers using the Kisii-Keroka highway to be careful, saying the road was prone to accidents.

He added that serious work needs to be done on it so as to reduce accidents.

In 2015 alone, accidents on the stretch of the highway between Kisii School and the Daraja Moja bridge claimed more than 10 lives.