Eight people died on the spot and four others were seriously injured when a minibus they were travelling in crashed into a lorry at Mafuta Taa area in Naivasha along the Maai-mahiu – Narok highway on Friday night.
Confirming the accident, Naivasha Sub-County Police Commander Mr. Samuel Waweru said the driver of the mini-bus which belongs to a welfare group is said to have veered off his lane and collided head-on with an oncoming lorry which was ferrying sand from Maai- mahiu.
The minibus was carrying employees of a flower company in Naivasha who were coming back from a funeral in Kisii.
During the 10pm Friday night accident, eight people including four men and four women died on the spot while four others are fighting for their lives at Naivasha Referral Hospital.
The injured are said to be in stable but critical condition. No one was injured in the lorry. The bodies of deceased persons have been moved to the Naivasha Referral Hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem and further investigations into the accident.
The wreckage of the minibus which was extensively damaged on the driver`s side and the lorry have been moved to Maai-mahiu police station for inspection.
On April 23, this year, a driver of a Toyota probox motor- vehicle belonging to SGS Security Company and two police officers from Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit (CIPU) died on the spot when the probox crashed into a trailer at Jikaze area along the Naivasha- Maai-mahiu Road in Naivasha.
According to the latest statistics from National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), a total of 127 drivers, 225 passengers, 18 pedal cyclists and 381 motorcyclists died in road accidents between January and April 11 this year bringing the number of total fatalities for that period to 688.
National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) estimates that 3,000 Kenyans die from road accidents every year – costing the country between 3-5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 83 per cent of the fatalities being men, with individuals aged between 30-34 years being most at risk, thus robbing the country of a very productive age bracket. But the World Health Organization (WHO) puts the figures at much higher.
