Five die, three injured after driver loses control of lorry on steep road

A bus belonging to Harmony School in Narok along the Narok-Nairobi highway yesterday

Five people died yesterday in a road accident at Kagicha market near the Nyeri-Murang’a boundary.

Three others passengers including a pregnant woman sustained serious injuries and were rushed to Nyeri Referral Hospital.

The five, among them four business women, were travelling in a lorry from the busy Kiria-ini market in Murang’a to Kagicha market in Othaya, when the driver lost control of the vehicle while climbing a hill.

The truck was loaded with bananas among other farm produce. Mathioya Deputy County Commissioner Charles Laboso said the passengers are reported to have attempted to jump off the truck when they realised the driver was struggling to control the vehicle.

“They tried jumping off the overloaded truck to save their lives but unfortunately, the five were unable to do so. The other three were left nursing serious injuries,” he said.

Speaking on phone, Laboso said the truck was overloaded with farm produce and was not authorised to carry passengers.

 Mourners Die

“It is a traffic offence for a truck loaded with goods to be turned into a public service vehicle,” said Laboso.

The driver escaped unhurt while his turn boy was not lucky and died on the spot. Laboso said police have launched investigations.

Elsewhere, two mourners who were on their way from a funeral died after a car they were traveling in was involved in an accident along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway on Sunday night.

The two women died on the spot during the accident near Fly Over trading center in the accident that involved three vehicles.

Two other people including a minor were seriously injured and rushed to Naivasha sub-county Referral Hospital, where they were admitted.

The accident occurred after the driver of the personal car carrying the two women lost control of the vehicle and hit the rear of a truck along the busy road.

A witness, Abel Kimathi, said as a result, the private car, which was heading to Nairobi from Nakuru, was hit by an oncoming school bus.

“The two women died on the spot while a man and a minor in the same car were seriously injured and rushed to hospital,” he said.

Kimathi added that the four were driving from Kisumu where they had attended the burial of a friend.

“The information we have obtained from the injured man is that they were travelling back to Nairobi,” he said.

A senior police officer who declined to be named confirmed the accident, adding the bodies had been collected and taken to Naivasha mortuary.

The officer saidpoor visibility in the area could have caused the accident.

“The area becomes very foggy at night and this could have resulted in the accident which has left two people dead,” said the officer.