Premium
Five killed in Nakuru-Nairobi Highway crash
Five people died in a grisly road crash at Mbaruk area on the busy Nakuru-Nairobi Highway.
Five people, all occupants of a Toyota Fielder vehicle headed to Nairobi, died in a grisly road crash at Mbaruk area on the busy Nakuru-Nairobi Highway.
The Monday night accident involved the Toyota Fielder and two other vehicles, according to the police.
Nakuru County Traffic Enforcement Officer Allan Ogolla, who confirmed the accident, revealed that the Toyota Fielder that was overtaking other vehicles when it collided head-on with an oncoming saloon car.
"The driver of a Toyota Fielder was overtaking a fleet of vehicles when the accident occurred. The five occupants of the Toyota Fielder died on the spot," said Mr Ogolla.
"After the collision, the driver of the Toyota Fielder lost control of the vehicle and rammed into a trailer," added the police boss.
Those who died in the crash include two men, two women and an infant, believed to be family members.
Their bodies were moved to the Nakuru City mortuary for preservation, awaiting identification and postmortem.
The crash caused a heavy traffic snarl-up along the road, as police cleared traffic building up on the highway.
"We have managed to clear the scene, and the flow of traffic is back to normal. We call on motorists to exercise extra caution on the roads," the police boss told the Nation.
The Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway, which is awaiting a multi-billion-shilling upgrade, has in the past months turned into a death trap, claiming dozens of people and leaving many nursing injuries.
The Mbaruk-St Marys-Gilgil section of the highway is among many black spots on the road.
Other most dangerous sections include Ihindu, Raini, Mithuri, Kikopey, Sosysambu, Weighbridge, Kinungi and Karai, where 40 people perished in 2017.
The key highway connects the capital Nairobi to Western Kenya and also Kenya and the landlocked countries of Uganda, Southern Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi.
The National Transport and Safety Authority and the traffic police department have been under public scrutiny over the rise in the number of road accidents along the busy highway.
