Six people including a minor have lost their lives after a grisly road accident at Maili Tisa on the Eldoret-Turbo road.
Confirming the incident, Uasin Gishu police commander Ayub Gitonga stated that the accident involved a 14-seater matatu, a tractor and a vehicle owned by the Kenya Roads Authority.
According to witnesses, the accident which occurred on the evening of Wednesday, November 23, 2022, happened after the driver of the tractor which reportedly had no headlights attempted to join the highway when there was a speeding matatu.
Consequently, the matatu heading to Kitale from Nairobi rammed into the tractor, while the parastatal vehicle trailing the matatu rammed into the matatu killing the driver of the matatu and the Parastatal on the spot.
Injured victims were rushed to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital for treatment (MTRH) while the bodies of the deceased were taken to the facility's morgue.
Police at the scene towed the wreckages to Yamumbi police station.
Similar incident
The accident came barely five days after several people lost their lives when an accident occurred at Josa area, along Wundanyi- Mwatate road in Taita Taveta County.
It was reported that the accident involved a school bus carrying teachers from Memon school. At the time, the teachers were off from the funeral of their colleague in Kidaya.
"We are sad to inform you of an accident that has occurred involving some of our teachers who had travelled to attend a funeral," a memo by the school's administration stated.
Photos shared revealed that the bus had rolled severally at the time of the accident.
"There is a bad crash at Taita on Josa black spot involving a Memon school bus (which was carrying adults), people have lost their lives (bodies lying on the ground), rescue ongoing," a statement by Sikika Road Safety added.
Injured victims were rushed to the Voi hospital.
Spate of road accidents
The latest comes amidst the rising cases of road carnage across the country. According to a statistic by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) 4,600 people have died due to road accidents.
The safety agency stated that pedestrians account for the highest number of fatalities. Similarly, the data also indicates that the number of fatal accidents increases during the Christmas and New Year festival seasons since people travel upcountry from towns to join family members in merry-making.
To curb the menace, police have increased crackdowns on drunk driving following a jump in the number of crashes on key arteries within the capital city.
