Five members of a family died in a road accident at Mbaruk area in Gilgil on the Nakuru-Nairobi highway.
The victims, a woman and her four sons, were killed when a Mercedes Benz car they were travelling in collided head-on with a lorry at around 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 13.
The car had six occupants: the driver, a woman, and four children.
Gilgil area Sub-County Police Commander, Jamlek Ngaruiya confirmed the incident reporting that the Mercedes Benz was overtaking in the wrong lane, leading to the fatal collision.
The car driver identified as Christopher Ambani was critically injured. He was driving to Nakuru, and police believe the five who were killed are members of Ambani’s family.
Nakuru Accident that Claimed Lives of Five Family Members
“The woman and the children died on the spot while Ambani was rushed to St Joseph hospital where he was admitted,” said the OCPD.
“We visited the scene and moved the bodies to a morgue in Nakuru.”
Also Read: Accident Alert: Several Students Hospitalized After Early Morning Accident
According to the driver of the lorry, Morris Wahome, the personal car was driving at a high speed.
“Nilikuwa nimeovertake nikamhepa. Sasa akakuja pahali niko. Hapa kando ya barabara huku kwa nyasi (I had overtaken and avoided him. Now he came to where I was, here on the side of the road in the grass),” he said.
“Pole sana (I’m very sorry).”
The lorry driver said he was heading to Nairobi while the personal car was traveling in the opposite direction.
The five bodies have since been moved to a morgue in Nakuru for postmortem and the vehicles have been towed to Gilgil Police Station for investigation.
Increased Cases of Accidents on Roads
The tragedy follows an earlier accident barely a month ago, on the evening of Thursday, June 27, 2024, when three matatus collided at Gilgil Weighbridge along the Nakuru–Naivasha Highway, resulting in 20 people being injured.
The accident caused significant disruption along the busy highway, with emergency services quickly responding to the scene to provide aid.
Also Read: Accident Alert: Tourists Killed as Landcruiser Crashes
Elsewhere, several students from Mbooni Girls High School were injured and rushed to the hospital following a severe road accident involving a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) they were traveling in.
The accident occurred on Saturday, June 27, in the morning when a bus belonging to Tawala Sacoo overturned at Kali area of Mbooni in Makueni County, along the Kikima–Machakos road.
Eyewitnesses reported that the driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to swerve and overturn, resulting in the injuries. Preliminary reports indicate that the bus was traveling from Mbooni towards Machakos.
Photos seen by The Kenya Times (TKT) showed the bus severely damaged, with its front windscreen shattered.
Speaking on May 20, former roads and transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen attributed the increased number of accidents to recklessness, maintaining that the government will roll out stringent measures to tame road crashes.
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