Four people killed, 16 injured in road crashes

Four people died in two separate road crashes in Nakuru and Nyandarua on Monday and Tuesday while 16 others sustained serious injuries.

In Nakuru, two people died and 10 others were injured after a matatu they were travelling in was involved in an accident at Sachang’wan on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on Monday night.

Witnesses said the accident occurred after the vehicle veered off the road and landed in a ditch. The vehicle was heading to Nairobi from Eldoret when the accident occurred.

Rongai police boss Japhet Kioko said the two, a man and a woman, died on the spot. “Those injured were taken to the Nakuru Level Five Hospital,” said Mr Kioko.

SPEEDING

Mr Stephen Koech, a boda boda rider, said the matatu was speeding.

“I was riding home when I heard a loud bang,” said Mr Koech, adding that there were no other vehicles ascending the steep stretch.

The accident occurred on the notorious section that stretches from Sobea, Salgaa, Migaa, Sachang’wan to Mau Summit.

The nearly 22-kilometre stretch of the Nakuru-Eldoret highway has been the scene of many accidents, which have left scores of people dead or maimed, prompting the State to begin construction of a dual carriageway in a bid to halt the carnage.

In the Nyandarua accident, two people died and six others were injured. The accident involved three vehicles along the Njabini-Fly Over road on Tuesday night.

OVERTAKING

Njabini police boss Jane Munywoki said the accident occurred when a minibus from Njabini was overtaking another matatu in Karate.

Ms Munywoki said the minibus, which belongs to Tulaga Company, collided head-on with a saloon car, killing the driver and his passenger.

“The driver of the minibus lost control after the head-on collision with the small car, hitting a matatu belonging to Satima Sacco, which had stopped to pick up passengers,” said the police boss.

Good Samaritans took the injured to different hospitals within Engineer and Naivasha towns where they are recovering. “We have confirmed that the victims are all responding well to treatment. We are also carrying out further investigations,” she said.

RECKLESS

A witness at Karate market said the driver of the minibus was driving recklessly and in a rush so as to pick up more passengers at the next bus stop.

“The matatus were competing for passengers heading to Nairobi and Naivasha. The minibus was speeding to pick up passengers at a bus stop a few metres from where the smaller matatu had stopped,” said Mr Wilson Kanyi, who was travelling in the minibus, but escaped unhurt.