Three people lost their lives and several others sustained injuries following a fatal road crash on the busy Nairobi-Nakuru Highway on Monday morning in the Kwambira area.
The accident, which was a head-on collision, involved a Luxury Sacco public service vehicle (PSV) traveling from the western part of the country towards Nairobi. The PSV collided with an oncoming lorry that was heading from Nakuru in the opposite direction.
Images and videos obtained by Kenyans.co.ke showed the driver's side of the matatu severely damaged, suggesting that the crash was intense.
Locals, who were the first to respond, struggled with tools like axes to free the occupants trapped inside the wreckage of the vehicles.
The lorry overturned on the side of the road, with survivors trapped inside the cabin of the heavy commercial vehicle.
This caused a huge traffic snarl-up on the busy highway after the road was rendered impassable by the two vehicles that blocked the way.
Police officers and emergency units from Nakuru County promptly responded to the incident, with rescue operations swiftly coordinated to save the lives of the survivors.
Soon after completing the rescue operation, emergency responders halted traffic for a few minutes to allow them to clean the road, which had been left obstructed by debris and blood stains.
The incident occurred around 6am, adding to the growing concern over the rising number of accidents happening across the country.
The tragic incident comes just days after 12 others lost their lives in a separate accident on the same road last week.
Additionally, on Friday last week, at least seven people succumbed while others were left nursing injuries following a road accident at the Kamandura Junction in Kiambu County along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
The accident occurred on Friday morning at around 9 am after a 14-seater matatu lost control and overturned, killing several people on the spot.
Authorities have launched investigations into the cause of the crash as the country continues to record an increased number of accidents since the onset of the April rains.
