Two killed several injured in Nakuru accident
The Mololine Matatu that collided head-on with a lorry at Sobea along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on Tuesday, May, 17, 2022. Two people died in the accident
Two people were killed and seven others seriously injured in a grisly road accident in the Sobea area on the Nairobi-Eldoret highway on Tuesday evening.
Sobea is approximately 11km from the Salgaa-Sachangwan blackspot.
The head-on collision involved a 14-seater matatu and a trailer.
Rongai sub-county Police Commander Wilberforce Netondo said the matatu was heading to Eldoret and the trailer was going in the opposite direction.
“The matatu rammed into the trailer, in a head-on collision. The driver of the matatu died on the spot while one passenger was confirmed dead on arrival at Nakuru Level Five Hospital,” Mr Netondo said.
The injured in the 4pm accident were rushed to Nakuru Level Five Hospital, while the deceased were taken to the Nakuru City Mortuary.
Witnesses told the Nation that the matatu driver was overtaking another vehicle at high speed when he collided with the oncoming lorry.
"Because he was speeding he could not control the vehicle, which rammed into the trailer," said Mr James Ombati.
The wreckage of the matatu was towed to the Salgaa Police Station.
The stretch between Sobea and Salgaa on the busy Nakuru-Eldoret highway has become a death trap for drivers, especially at night.
Since the beginning of the year, dozens of people have died on the road.
The most dangerous section covers Sobea, Salgaa, Migaa, Sachangwan and Mau Summit.
The stretch has become notorious, especially for motorists unfamiliar with the route.
In the Salgaa area, a series of accidents prompted the government to set up a concrete barrier, which finally tamed the road carnage on that stretch.
The barrier, erected in 2018 for Sh500 million, separates lanes of traffic and has drastically reduced motor vehicle accidents on the stretch between Salgaa and Sachangwan.
There are also plans to upgrade the entire Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit road and make it a six-lane dual carriageway under a public-private partnership.
The busy Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret highway, the most important artery to Western Kenya that connects the country to landlocked Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi, is among the most dangerous roads in the East African region.
The road is used for transporting most of the western-bound cargo from the port of Mombasa and Nairobi.
