Eight people died on the spot Sunday morning as four escaped with serious injuries after a Nissan Matatu they were travelling in rammed into a stationary truck at Musembe along the Webuye – Eldoret highway in Lugari sub county.
According to Nicholas Mwangi the driver of the truck the matatu rammed into, he had stopped behind another trailer that had stalked on the road to assist his colleague, when the over speeding Nissan smirked into his lorry from behind in the 5 am incident.
“I saw a stalled truck ahead whose driver I know very well, so I slowed down and stopped behind him. But moments after I had alighted I heard a bang and saw the matatu ripped off the roof,” said Mwangi, who was travelling towards Eldoret from Uganda.
Residents who rushed to the scene managed to rescue four passengers who were rushed to Lumakanda county hospital in critical condition.
The residents has appealed to the Kenya Highway Authority to erect more bumps on the area to check on speeding vehicles and thus help reduce accidents.
Confirming the incident, Lugari sub county police commander Bernard Ngungu said the Matatu which had twelve passengers on board was on the way from Bungoma heading to Nairobi when the accident occurred.
“It is like the driver panicked on abruptly seeing a stationary truck and tried to swerve but the lorry ripped off the roof killing the eight,” said Ngungu.
Ngungu has warned Public Service Vehicles drivers against over speeding especially this time when there are more passengers travelling to major towns after Christmas and New year celebration.
“There drivers who are over speeding so that they can go as many trips as possible since there are more passengers at this time. I want to warn them to strictly adhere to the traffic rules,” warned Ngungu.
The bodies of the victims were moved to the Webuye sub county hospital mortuary, pending postmortem examinations.
