Road crashes claim more lives ahead of Christmas

Seven people were yesterday killed in a grisly road accident involving six vehicles and a motorcycle at Maltauro area near Duka Moja in Narok East sub-county.

According to the police, a truck driven from Narok to Mai Mahiu had a tyre burst near the Nairagie-Enkare escarpment and the driver lost control, colliding with several vehicles including a Toyota Premio, a bus and a PSV shuttle belonging to Narok Line.

Three passengers in the shuttle died on the spot.

Minutes later, at the same spot, a second truck from the same direction came in at a high speed and collided head-on with a black Toyota Prado, which was being driven towards Narok. Two of the occupants died on the spot while a third passenger died when undergoing treatment at the Narok County Hospital.

The truck also knocked down a motorcycle, killing two pillion passengers on the spot.

Over 20 other people sustained serious injuries and have been admitted at the Narok hospital while the vehicles were towed to Ntulele police station.

According to the Kenya Red Cross, the accident disrupted the traffic flow along the busy Narok-Mai-Mahiu road.

“A road traffic incident involving six vehicles has occurred at Maltauro, along the Narok-Mai Mahiu Road. Several injured people have been rushed to Narok County Referral Hospital,” Kenya Red Cross said.

On Sunday morning, four other people were killed at Khunyangu area along Butula-Bumala road in Busia county.

Police reports show that Walter Onyango was driving from Butula towards Bumala when he lost control of the vehicle and collided with a motorcycle from the opposite direction.

“Due to the impact, the rider and his pillion passenger, a girl aged 5, died on the spot while the driver sustained a slight injury on his chest, multiple cuts on both hands,” police said.

A woman, aged 36, who was in the vehicle sustained serious head and chest injuries and later died while undergoing treatment at the hospital. A 17-year old boy who was on the motorcycle also died later while undergoing treatment.

Police said the bodies were taken to the mortuary awaiting post-mortem while the vehicle was towed to Murumba police station.

Police presence
On Sunday, two other people died at Kasarani area in Voi when their vehicle rammed into a lorry. Anish Kumari, 28, was driving from Nairobi towards Mombasa when the accident occurred, died on the spot. The other passenger later succumbed after being rushed to St James hospital for treatment.

Other police reports indicate that a government vehicle knocked down a pedestrian at Manyuanda area along Rodi Kopany-Nhiwa road in Homa Bay county. The pedestrian died on the spot, police said.

On Thursday last week, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi shared worrying statistics showing the country has recorded an increase in serious injury due to road traffic accidents, rising by about 11 per cent since 2023.

There has however been a decrease in fatalities among drivers, passengers, pillion passengers, and motorcyclists by 5.85 per cent, 10 percent, 9 percent and 10.05 per cent respectively.

To ensure the safety of people during the festive season, there will be increased police presence and patrols along major highways, to monitor and enforce compliance with traffic laws.

“The enhanced patrols will serve to discourage reckless driving, and speed violations, and to prevent unlicensed and overloaded PSVs from operating,” Mudavadi said.