• The road is steep
• Market stalls were destroyed
One person died while three others were seriously injured on Friday in an accident at Ortum market along the Kitale-Lodwar highway.
The accident involved a stationary truck transporting goods from Kapenguria to Lodwar.
West Pokot country police commander Mathew Kuto said the truck, which had been parked at the side of the road, rammed into a matatu parked along the road, knocked and killed one person before landing in the nearby shops.
The road is steep.
Kuto said the driver was not in the vehicle.
The driver of the matatu was also not inside.
Moses Kodeny, a ward administrator for Turwel, was in the matatu and escaped death narrowly.
He called on the government to erect bumps on the road.
“We tried to open the door of the vehicle before the lorry hit us but we were defeated. Most of the passengers managed to escape through the window,” he said.
Traders urged the government to redesign the road.
The injured people were rushed to Ortum Mission Hospital and the body of the deceased was taken Kapenguria County Hospital Mortuary.