Two people have been confirmed dead while 17 others are recuperating in hospital after the vehicles they were traveling in were involved in an accident along the Nyeri-Nyahururu highway at Mweiga Tuesday evening.
The accident that occured near the Aberdare Country Club involved a 14-seater 4NTE PSV matatu and a lorry that was transporting manure.
The matatu was travelling to Nyahururu from Nyeri while the truck was travelling in the opposite direction.
Those injured were rushed to the Mary Immaculate and the Nyeri County Teaching and Referral Hospitals.
Among the injured are eight males, eight females and a baby. Those who perished include the driver of the truck and one of the passengers who was on board the PSV matatu, according to Central Region Traffic Enforcement Officer, Elizabeth Ngigi.
“At around 1700 hours I received a report from Mweiga (Traffic Police) Base that a serious accident had occurred at the Mweiga-Chaka junction and we visited the scene and confirmed an accident had occurred,” said the Traffic boss.
“The 14 passengers that were in the matatu belonging to 4NTE matatu had been seriously injured and they have been rushed to Nyeri hospital in serious condition. The accident involved a matatu and a lorry which was carrying manure which was carrying two people in number who are also critically injured,” she added.
Sources who were near the scene of the accident claim the lorry was attempting to overtake another vehicle when it rammed into the oncoming matatu.
Police are currently investigating the cause of the accident which occurred less than a kilometer from Solio where seven people perished after the matatu they were traveling rammed into a private car on December 29 last year. Another 14 people sustained serious injuries during the incident.
Road carnage claims at least 3,000 people every year. This year alone a total of 3,369 people have lost their lives through road accidents in the country since January according to a report released by the National Police Service on September 17, 2024.
Out of the fatalities, 1,281 were pedestrians, 825 motorcyclists, 654 passengers and 281 drivers. The number showed a slight increase compared to last year when 3,151 perished in road accidents during a similar period.
By Samuel Maina
