Several people, including students who were heading back to school after half term break, are nursing critical injuries following a multiple-vehicle crash along the Eldoret-Nakuru Highway at Timboroa in Nakuru County.
According to witnesses, the accident occurred on Tuesday afternoon after a matatu heading to Nakuru lost control and rammed into an oncoming lorry which subsequently hit a personal car.
Following the accident, an emergency response team arrived at the scene and helped retrieve those trapped from the wreckage before rushing them to the hospital.
Videos and images of the scene showed a 14-seater matatu badly damaged with the truck leaning on one of its sides. Meanwhile, the personal car experienced damage on its front side.
The accident resulted in a huge traffic snarl-up along the ever-busy highway, with motorists forced to seek alternative routes to evade the gridlock.
Despite a quick response by the rescuers, the exact number of those injured is yet to be established, with the police officers currently on the scene to ease traffic congestion.
The Eldoret-Nakuru Highway crash comes just hours after 21 people, including 19 students, sustained injuries following a grisly accident along the Nandi Hills-Kopere Highway in Nandi County.
The accident, which occurred on Monday, March 3, left a Form Four student dead with seven others, including the driver and the conductor nursing critical head injuries.
According to witnesses who spoke to the press, the accident took place when the 14-seater matatu lost control and rolled along the highway before landing on a thicket.
Commenting after the tragedy, Tinderet MP Julius Kibiwot called for stern action against traffic police officers who were responsible for manning the road when the accident occurred.
Kibiwot, while addressing journalists on Monday evening outside the Nandi Hills hospital where the victims had been rushed, accused the police of laxity by failing to arrest the driver and his assistant before the tragedy.
“To our police officers, how can a Nissan that should carry 11 people be allowed to pass while it carried 19 students, a driver, and a conductor? The police who are here must answer,” Kibiwot questioned.
