Three people were yesterday killed in a road accident involving a 14-seater matatu and a canter truck on the Makupa causeway in Mombasa.

Eyewitness say the matatu, which was from Mombasa town, rolled across the lanes and collided with the canter which was heading to Mombasa.

The 7:30am incident caused a huge traffic jam. The police had to bring in a crane to remove the wreckage. The bodies were taken to the Coast General Hospital mortuary.

Several people sustained injuries and were taken to various hospitals in Mombasa.

Coast region traffic commandant Peter Maina confirmed that the three people, two men and a woman, died on the spot while several were injured.

“Three people including the driver perished. The driver lost control and rolled across the lanes and collided with a canter that was on the other lane,” said Maina.

The Matatu is owned by Makueni Transporters Sacco (Matco) and was on its way to Kitui from Mombasa.

Lost control

According to Abdalla Mohamed, who witnessed the accident, the matatu heading to Kitui and lost control while the driver was on phone and rolled several times. 

He said this was the fourth time an accident was happening on the causeway.

“If there were rails, may be the vehicle would not have rolled. Rails should be erected to prevent similar accidents in future,” said Mohamed.