Four people died on the night of Saturday, November 20, after four vehicles burst into flames at Ntulele in Narok County. The vehicles plying the busy Narok - Mai Mahiu highway were involved in a tragic road crash at around 7PM when a speeding trailer lost control downhill and collided head on with a lorry.
Witnesses at the scene reported that several people were trapped in the burning vehicles even as police rushed to the scene to establish the cause of the accident as well as assess the magnitude of the same.
Multiple reports indicated that locals, commuters and other motorists helped emergency service providers to extinguish the fires and save passengers who were caught in the furnace.
Several people sustained injuries and were rushed the Narok County Referral hospital while bodies of the deceased were moved to the facility's morgue awaiting postmortem.
Police arrived at the scene and directed traffic after a diversion was created to allow the passage of other motorists.
The wreckage was towed to the Duka Moja Police Station in Narok East sub county.
The Ntulele area is a famous black spot where over ten deaths are reported annually.
Traffic marshalls argue that motorists always defy warning signs along the highway as they approach the three-kilometre stretch of the road near Ntulele’s Pinyiny hills.
In August 2013, forty one passengers lost their lives after their PSV overturned. Two months later, 25 people passed away in an accident at the same spot. In the subsequent years, nearly ten deaths have been reported annually.
Between January 2021 and September 20, 2021, some 3,212 people had been killed in accidents as compared to 2,560 who died similar period last year, an increase of 652 people.
According to the the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), of those who have died this year, 1,111 are pedestrians, 311 drivers, 520 passengers, 318 pillion passengers, 61 pedal cyclists and 891 motorcyclists.
Reckless driving, dangerous overtaking, drunk driving, drunk walking, drunk riding, failure to use helmets among other issues have been attributed to the increase in crashes.
