By Eric Wainaina and Cyrus Ombati
Seventeen people have died and scores of others seriously injured in separate road accidents.
Nine died and six were hurt after a police lorry and a matatu collided at Ngarariga, Limuru along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway yesterday morning.
According to Kiambu West deputy police boss Jonathan Kisaka, the lorry was headed to Limuru town from Lari Police Station when it developed a mechanical problem.
Mr Kisaka said four people died on the spot while three others died at Tigoni District Hospital, while the eighth one died at Kijabe Mission Hospital where they had been rushed for treatment.
The lorry is reported to have started to swerve, moved off its lane and collided with the matatu that was headed to Githunguri from Limuru with 14 passengers on board.
The other six survivors are still admitted at the two hospitals following the 9am accident that caused a traffic snarl-up along the busy highway.
Locals mounted a rescue operation that involved removing some survivors and bodies, which were trapped in the wreckage.
Those who died were passengers in the matatu, among them an eight-year-old boy while the police driver is among those critically injured and admitted at Tigoni Hospital.
OFFICER WAS ALONE
“The lorry driver who is a police officer was alone when the lorry developed a mechanical hitch and he lost control over it. He move to the opposite lane and hit the oncoming matatu,” Kisaka said.
The driver later died while undergoing treatment.
Earlier on in the morning yesterday, two other people had been killed a few kilometres away on the same highway. Police said the two were employees of the BM security company.
They died after a canter they were in hit a pothole at the Mai Mahiu junction.
“We have written to the Kenya National Highway Authority to erect signs here,” said deputy Traffic Commandant Samuel Kimaru.
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Mr Kimaru warned motorists against speeding on the highway, which has poor visibility at night. “Let people take personal responsibility and drive responsibly because we are losing many innocent lives as a result of careless driving,” he said.
In Juja, two men and a woman died after their vehicle crashed head-on with a lorry.
Additional reporting by Edwin Makiche
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