•According to police in Naivasha, the matatu driver was trying to overtake a fleet of vehicles when the accident occurred.
Image: /COURTESY
Three people were on Monday killed and 10 others injured in a grisly road accident at Marula along the Naivasha-Nakuru highway.
The three casualties included two passengers and the matatu driver.
The accident along the busy Nairobi-Nakuru highway and near Delamere farm came barely a week after another accident on the same highway claimed six lives.
Two of the passengers died on the spot while the third died while undergoing treatment following the midday accident near Delamere farm in Naivasha.
Fifteen people were admitted at Naivasha Subcounty Hospital, six of them in critical condition with plans on to refer them for specialised treatment.
The accident occurred after the matatu that was heading to Nakuru from Naivasha crashed into an incoming private mini bus that was ferrying a group of students.
The accident caused a major traffic snarl-up as police and members of the public moved in to rescue passengers trapped in the wrecks.
According to a witness, Peter Mwaniki, the highway had in the last couple of months seen an increase in the number of accidents.
“Today's accident would have been avoided if this highway had been expanded but the drivers also need to be careful while overtaking,” he said.
Another witness, Sospeter Kingi, said that the matatu driver who was among those who died, was to blame for the accident.
He said that the driver decided to overtake a fleet of vehicles before ramming head on into the mini bus leading to deaths and injuries.
“The driver of the matatu and another passenger died on the spot while scores of others mainly those in the matatu were seriously injured,” he said.
Confirming the accident, Naivasha OCPD Samuel Waweru said that the injured were getting treatment at the subcounty hospital.
He added that the bodies had been taken to the local mortuary adding that careless overtaking was to blame for the accident.
“We have lost three men in the accidents and over 10 others have been seriously injured and are undergoing treatment,” he said.
Last week, six people died on the same highway and at Nyakairo trading center in Naivasha following an accident involving a Nissan matatu and a lorry.