Four people lost their lives in an early morning accident that occurred along the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway on the morning of Wednesday, July 21.
The incident took place at Sabaki Area in Athi River along the busy highway after a matatu rammed into the rear end of a stalled trailer.
Both vehicles were headed towards Nairobi.
Other passengers who were aboard the matatu sustained serious injuries.
The incident that took place at around 4:53 a.m. caused a snarl-up along the busy highway and adjacent feeder roads leading to Kitengela and Namanga.
A witness told K24 TV that the matatu rammed the trailer from behind and other vehicles had nearly suffered the same fate.
“It is sad that lives have been lost because of a careless road user. The trailer stalled on the road and the driver did not bother to put indicators or warning signs to guide the other road users. Several vehicles nearly rammed into the trailer before the matatu rammed on it.
"The matatu was speeding and there was no alternative to swerve the vehicle to the right as there was another oncoming lorry heading in the opposite direction,” stated the witness.
This incident occurred a few hours before another accident reportedly occurred on a flyover along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway.
It is not clear what caused the accident that involved a 14-seater Mololine matatu.
Fatalities from road accidents have been on an upward spiral this year with 710 people having lost their lives in a span of two months beginning January 2021.
Government Spokesman Cyrus Oguna, while releasing the latest figures in March 2021, noted that the state was concerned with the increase which was a spike from the previous year's figure that stood at 562 for the same period.
