On Sunday morning, January 2, the country woke up to a grisly road accident that occurred along the busy Eldoret - Webuye Highway.
The accident involved a 14-seater matatu which rammed a stationary trailer that had been parked on the side of the road. The morning incident claimed the lives of eight people, who died on the spot.
Among the deceased were a senior National Youth Service (NYS) officer, Margaret Walela, and her son who had just come from December holidays upcountry.
Rashid Fuamba, Walela's cousin, shared some of the final moments with his kin before their demise.
"Margaret is my cousin and they were traveling back to Nairobi. She was very jovial actually, we had prayers and she promised to solve some of NYS application issues once she went back to Nairobi," he noted.
Shocked by the unfortunate turn of events, he faulted the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) for failure to check whether trailers parked on the roads had been removed.
He added that such incidents could have been avoided if the authority could have acted quickly. Further, he pointed out that the road had become a deathtrap, in recent past, claiming numerous lives.
Fuamba also criticised the matatu sacco - noting that they operated on a different route hence did not have permit to carry passengers to and fro Bungoma and Nairobi.
Others who were involved in the crash were a family of three- wife, husband and daughter. The husband survived but his wife and child lost their lives.
Kakamega County Police Commander Hassan Barua, confirmed the incident, stating that the matatu rammed the stationary truck at the Musembe area.
“The matatu, a part of the 2NK Sacco, was heading to Nairobi from Bungoma when it hit the lorry from behind at Musembe. Our officers rushed the injured passengers to Webuye Sub-county Hospital,” the police commander, Mr Barua stated.
The first responders, who rushed to the scene of the accident, managed to save four victims who were rushed to hospital.
