Two police officers killed in Naromoru road accident

Police officers remove one of the bodies of their colleagues who died in a road accident at Naromoru, along the Nyeri - Nanyuki road. (Photo: Mose Sammy/Standard)

Two police officers were Friday morning killed and their colleague seriously injured after their vehicle veered off Nyeri-Nanyuki highway and rolled several times.

Also injured were 14 crime suspects who were being taken to Nanyuki Law Courts to answer to charges of dealing in illicit brew.

Witnesses said the driver of the speeding police Land Cruiser lost control of the vehicle while trying to overtake a lorry at Naromoru.

"The driver belatedly realised there was another vehicle coming from the opposite direction and when he tried to swerve back to his lane, the vehicle toppled over and rolled several times," narrated Moses Wambugu, a witness.

Another witness said the vehicle, assigned to Naromoru Police Station, flipped into the air and crash landed on the right side of the cabin roof where the driver was, before landing back on its wheels.

The impact of the vehicle hitting the ground severely mangled the head of the driver, whose body has since been moved to Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary.

"The other officer seated next to the driver probably died of serious internal injuries as there were no visible external injuries on his body," said Kieni East OCPD Ancent Kaloki, at the scene.

According to Kaloki, all the suspects in the ill-fated vehicle were arrested on Thursday during a clampdown on illicit brew in Naromoru following a peremptory directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta. They were rushed to Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Although Police are yet to establish the cause of the accident, Kaloki said the condition of the vehicle especially the inadequate thickness of the tyres could have partially contributed to the accident.

This is the second accident in a span of less than one month to claim the lives of police officers along the same highway.

On June 3, a Criminal Investigation Department officer perished after the car he was driving collided head on with lorry near a milk processing plant in Chaka Town.