Drivers along the Chuka-Meru highway have been cautioned to drive carefully after a deadly accident left five people dead and four others critically injured last night.
The Tharaka Nithi County Rescue Team leader Alex Mugambi said due to the rains in the upper parts of the county the tarmac road is slippery and hence the need for the drivers to apply caution while driving along the busy highway.
Mugambi said the accident involved a milk truck and seven-seater matatu at the infamous Nithi Bridge along Meru-Nairobi highway less than 10km from Chuka town.
He said it is quite unfortunate that out of the five passengers and the driver in the matatu, only one commuter survived with serious injuries while the three people who were in the truck that plunged into the Nithi River were also seriously injured. The injured were rushed to Chuka County Referral Hospital.
Villagers and commuters who arrived at the scene carried the packets of milk that were scattered on the road and in the river.
Many lives of young and old alike have perished at this notorious blackspot while others escaped albeit with permanent scars and broken parts of their bodies to tell their experiences.
The abrupt huge cone-shaped road bumps that one encounters as vehicles approach the steep and long stretch from Meru side are road signs that reminds one of a deadly Nithi bridge scares.
The bumps thrust those either dozing or those engaged in other deep matters back into thinking about their Maker and earnestly engaging into prayers so that they could be alive and see the ridge on the other side.
by David Mutwiri
