Six dead, several injured in Kisii-Sotik road crash involving lorry, matatu

Six people confirmed dead, while 10 survived with life-threatening injuries following a road crash involving a nissan matatu at Kijauri Market in Nyamira County. [Stanley Ongwae/Standard]

Six people have been confirmed dead and several others injured following a grisly road accident that occurred at Kijauri Shopping Centre on Kisii-Sotik road Friday evening.

10 other people are nursing injuries in various hospitals in Nyamira and Bomet Counties, where they were rushed for emergency treatment.

Three of the 10 sustained life-threatening injuries, and we're transferred to Kaplong Mission Hospital and Nyamira County Referral Hospitals, where they are receiving critical care.

Borabu Subcounty Traffic Police Commander Wycliffe Kundu said, the accident involved a lorry, a public service Nissan matatu and a saloon car.

Kundu said the lorry, which was headed towards the Sotik route from Keroka Town, lost control and before it hit the two vehicles which were parked by the roadside along the steep slope between the bridge and Nyansiongo Factory junction.

After hitting the two vehicles, the lorry then flew over a roadside ditch before landing on nearby roadside kiosks.

Eyewitnesses said the lorry was heavily loaded with wood logs, which were being transported to a nearby tea factory.

"The driver of the lorry lost control he drove down the market stretch. He first hit two vehicles which were parked by the roadside before diving into nearby kiosks," Kundu said.

The scene of the accident is an unmarked black spot, according to residents who complained that the Kenya National Highways Authority had done nothing in marking the area as well as putting controls there.

Kundu warned motorists to exercise caution when driving on the highway.

"The area is a black spot and all road users have to exercise extra caution when they have reached there, especially during harsh rainy weather like now," Mr Kundu said.

The accident comes just a month after another three people lost their lives on the same highway.

The three were killed in Keroka town, a few kilometres from Kijauri.

The accident involved a Nissan matatu, which was headed to Keroka from Masimba Town, and a motorcycle.

The driver of the matatu lost control as he descended the Ichuni lane. While struggling to control his vehicle, he hit a motorcyclist who was ahead of him, killing the rider and his pillion passenger. The matatu then landed in a nearby ditch and trapped one pedestrian, who also died on the spot.

Following the accidents, Masaba North Sub-county Bodaboda Chairman Dominic Babu has called for the relocation of traders, who he said are selling their products on road reserves.

"Traders on that road have constructed stalls closer to the highway, and there is a need to regulate them if we are to avoid such accidents in future," Mr Babu said.

He also asked the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA) to erect new road signage on the highways to caution motorists and other road users.