Four family members were on Monday killed in a grisly motorcycle accident in Kilifi County.
Confirming the incident, Kilifi Deputy OCPD Peter Mutuma stated that the four succumbed when the motorcycle they were travelling on collided with a truck.
"The four people who belong to the same family were travelling to Kilifi when the accident occurred and their bodies were taken to Kilifi sub-county hospital mortuary awaiting post-mortem," he stated.
He added that the accident occurred when the motorcycle was trying to overtake another truck on the Mavueni-Kaloleni road.
[caption caption="File image of a motorcycle accident"]
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Speaking to journalists, a relative Mr Tony Dadi conveyed that he had lost his mother, sister and niece.
"All of them including the rider are relatives and it is a very sad day for us," he stated.
A recent report published by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization showed that head injuries were a major cause of death, injury and disability among motorcyclists.
"The substantial growth in the use of motorized two-wheelers, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries, is being accompanied by an increase in the number of head and traumatic brain injuries," the reports titled Motorcycle-related Road Traffic Crashes in Kenya Facts & figures explains.
In 2010, a total of 3055 road traffic deaths were reported by the Kenya Traffic Police. Of these, approximately 7% were motorcyclists.
"Compared to car occupants, motorcycle riders and their passengers are relatively unprotected. The likelihood of serious injury or death faced by motorcyclists is therefore higher than for other groups of users of motorized transport," the report further states.
[caption caption="Graph showing motorcycle deaths 2005-2010 Source: WHO"]
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