Nakuru County Governor Susan Kihika has announced that her government will settle the bills of victims of the Londiani road accident.

The accident that occurred on Friday, June 30, 2023,  has claimed 52 lives, and Kihika has said the county will settle the bills of residents who hail from the county.

Kihika’s helping hand

“I think we had 12 (from Nakuru), and if there is any family from Nakuru County that has a victim in that accident, I would like my office to know so that we can cater for all the expenses,” Kihika said.

“I know a lot of our people from Kamara and Molo were caught up in that. For some of those families, we said they should be brought to our hospitals, and we have been able to use Molo Hospital and PGH [Nakuru’s General Hospital].”

As 52 lives have been confirmed lost, several others are still hospitalized in several health facilities. The horrible crash happened along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway after a truck lost control, veered off the road and crashed into several vehicles and traders. 

41 bodies at the Kericho County Hospital mortuary have been identified so far, and county executive committee member Brenda Bii, who heads the health department, has called on people who believe their families are victims of the accident to come out and identify their loved ones.

“Anyone with useful information should reach out to Londiani Hospital, where body identification and contact tracing efforts are currently underway,” Bii told the media.

According to Bii, they are still waiting for a pathologist from the national government to arrive at Kericho Hospital. She also urged traders at Kapkelek along the Kericho-Litein to vacate the area for security reasons.

“We require them to henceforth leave the road and move their business there,” Bii added.

Red Cross assistance

Jethro Koech, the Red Cross regional manager, explained how they collaborated with the regional authorities after the accident on Friday night.

“After completing all the necessary procedures, including postmortem examinations, 16 bodies have been released upon the request of bereaved families who opted to move the bodies to other mortuaries,” Koech said.

The Londiani Sub County Hospital morgue was overstretched and could not fully accommodate all the casualties. The hospital’s mortuary can only accommodate 16 bodies and struggled to take in the bodies that were taken there.

Overstretched

When the bodies arrived at Londiani Hospital, others had to be taken to either Kericho or Molo Sub County Hospital mortuaries.

Londiani Sub-county Hospital superintendent Dr Collins Kipkoech said that the mortuary was overwhelmed as it had to preserve 33 more bodies beyond its capacity.

“The extra bodies need to be moved from the mortuary after identification by the relatives of the victims,” Kipkoech said.

When the accident occurred, according to Bii, 100 mobile morgue units from the Red Cross had to be deployed at the Londiani health facility.

“The Red Cross came in handy to assist the hospital in preserving the overwhelming number of bodies from the accident scene. We appeal to more residents to consider becoming morticians to support grieving families during such tragic events,” Bii said.

“We appeal to more residents to consider becoming morticians to support grieving families during such tragic events.”

According to Kipkoech, the Red Cross provided 20 body bags that helped in the management of the crisis.