Family killed in Mombasa road autocrash

MANYANI, KENYA: Six people including a woman died on Monday morning after two vehicles collided head on along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway in Taita-Taveta County.

According to the police, five died on the spot while the other died on arrival at the Makindu Sub County Hospital. The accident occurred at Manyani area along the busy highway regarded as one of the major black spots in the county.

County Police Commander Fred Ochieng said the road crash involved a Mercedes Axor truck and Toyota harrier said to be carrying family members who all perished. They were travelling to Mombasa from Nairobi.

The police commander confirmed that the truck's driver Joshua Mbithi, 39 had been arrested for alleged dangerous driving and would be arraigned in court once investigations were complete.

He said the suspect was driving towards the Nairobi direction at the time of the accident.

"On reaching at the location of the accident, the driver of the truck failed to keep to his lane thereby colliding head on with the Toyota harrier," said Ochieng.

As a result, the driver of the Toyota harrier and four other passengers on board all died on the spot. One unidentified female passenger was seriously injured and was rushed to Mtito-Andei Sub County Hospital but was confirmed dead on arrival, said the police officer.

Ochieng said her body is lying at the Makindu Hospital mortuary while bodies of her deceased colleagues were taken to Voi County Referral Hospital mortuary to await postmortem examination.

"The driver of the truck was arrested and will appear in court tomorrow to face charges of causing death,' he said.