Scene where a lorry was involved in an accident with a pickup at Kaburengu area along the Malaba- Eldoret Highway Sunday. [PHOTO: Benjamin Sakwa/STANDARD]

By Bryan Tumwa

Kenya: Seven people died in a grisly road accident along the busy Webuye- Eldoret road after a pick- up truck collided head on with a lorry.

Three people died on the spot, including the driver of the pick-up truck, while four others succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment at Webuye District Hospital.

The Toyota pick-up truck headed towards Eldoret was attempting to overtake another vehicle when it rammed onto the Mitsubishi lorry coming from the opposite direction in the 7pm incident on Saturday.

Western Provincial Traffic Enforcement Officer Ms Rhoda Kananu confirmed the accident observing that the pick up truck was overloaded at the time of the accident.

“The pickup was ferrying people who we are suspecting to be mourners and was overloaded at the time. There were a total of nine people on board and it was headed towards Eldoret,” said Ms Kananu.

She added that four more people were still in hospital having suffered serious. The lorry’s driver is among those fighting for their lives.

Elsewhere, a driver died while two passengers were injured when their pick-up vehicle collided head on with a high school bus at Kiangima area along the Embu-Meru road on Saturday night.

Head-on-collision

Embu West Deputy County Commissioner Daniel Obudo said the two vehicles were moving in opposite directions when the accident occurred at around 10.30pm. Obudo said the driver, Dickson Kiama, died on the spot while Samuel Mweiga was injured and another unidentified person in the pick up sustained injuries on the lower jaw.

Police arrived at the scene and moved the injured to the Embu Provincial General Hospital while the deceased were moved to the same hospital’s mortuary.

Meanwhile, two people died after a car they were traveling in was involved in an accident along the Kisumu-Nairobi highway. The early morning accident near Boya area involved a saloon car and a lorry which was on transit to Nairobi.

Kenya Red Cross Assistant Secretary General for Western Region Emmanuel Owako said the two died following a head on collision involving the two vehicles.

Three passengers in the lorry escaped unhurt, while one passenger in the saloon car died on the spot according to Owako.

-Additional reporting by Rushdie Oudia, Joseph Muchiri and James Munyeki