17 People Perish in Grisly Road Crash along Thika-Garissa Highway
17 people lost their lives after a grisly road accident at Ngoliba area along the Thika-Garissa highway on Sunday night.
The crash occurred after a 14-seater public service vehicle travelling to Kitui from Nairobi, rammed an oncoming truck as the driver attempted to overtook other cars.
"After sensing danger, the driver of the lorry tried to stop but it was a little too late to avoid a head-on collision. The matatu rammed the lorry," said Thika Traffic Base Commander Michael Lemaiyan.
Mr Lemaiyan said that 13 peoole aboard the matatu died on the spot while seven others sustained serious injuries and were rushed to various medical facilities, including Thika Level Five Hospital in critical condition. Four people later succumbed to injuries while being treated.
"This is a case of overloading and overspeeding. Drivers are taking advantage of the absence of traffic officers on the highway to carry excess passengers," Mr Lemaiyan said.
"The number is likely to go up. We haven't managed to account for every passenger that was in the overloaded matatu," the police chief added.
More than 70 people have died in road carnage in different parts of the country in the last one week even as authorities call for careful driving during the festivities.
Comments
Things like these happen…
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Things like these happen when a Country is Led by the Wicked and FRAUDULENCE.
spot on ... all these…
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In reply to Things like these happen… by Guest1 (not verified)
spot on ... all these accidents have something to do with raila, jubilee, SGR, Chebukati, Musando, Mose Kuria na pipi ya wetangula
Sanity on the roads must be…
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Sanity on the roads must be imposed. Too many lost lives in recent days. Who is leading the transport ministry?
Ban all the mini vans. They…
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Ban all the mini vans. They're a trap.
It is the greedy police who…
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It is the greedy police who look the other way after receiving a bribe for matatus and buses that are not worthy of being on the road.The other organization National road safety network is busy stopping drunkards yet more people are killed by matatus and buses due to speeding and mechanical failures than intoxication. Treat the cause of the problem not the symptom.
In the majority of these…
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In the majority of these very deadly crashes, you read about "attempting to overtake". Folks, take heed; you don't have to become a statistic just to save a couple seconds. Mindless overtaking is a major cause of road accidents in Kenya coz guys are always in a hurry to get there faster.
@Mlachake good observation…
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@Mlachake good observation. Almost every one of these accidents has "attempting to overtake"
1. Why is it a driver would choose to overtake more than I vehicle?
2. Why is that these drivers seem to be in a hurry ?
3.What has the ministry of Transportation done with all the statistics or data it has collected over the years?
4. Will the problem of police kitu kidogo ever be resolved?
5.Why do the wananchi allow themselves to be loaded to a matatu like potatoes? Why jump in a matatu that is already full?
6. Are there any special training for PSV drivers, Boda Boda drivers and for repeat traffic offenders?
All these problems can be resolved by a willing government.
First, any driver for passenger vehicles must have a special training.
Secondly, there should be a tangible way to enforce the law on police and drivers. Now that they have a drivers licences that can be processed electronically, a point system should be introduced . If a driver exceeds a certain number of points, they go back to training and heavy fines. Drunk driving and driving under the influence of any type of drugs should be an automatic disqualification from driving PSV vehicles failure to which the owner of the vehicles are fined. Drivers should be tested for drugs randomly and then punishments levied accordingly.
Thirdly, the so called blind spots should be removed or fixed. For how long are we going to hear about these spots? If they are known, fix them.
Fourthly, vehicle inspections should be taken seriously. Some vehicles are not worth carrying potatoes let alone people.
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