Identification of the bodies of the 21 people who lost their lives in the fatal road crash in Taru on Friday is still ongoing, Coast Regional Traffic Commandant Peter Maina has said.
A village in Taita Taveta county is the most affected after eight people, five from one family, were identified to have died in that accident.
They were in a group of nine people from Mgeno village in Mwatate heading to Mombasa for a wedding.
Maina said the process might take more days because family members are still being notified of the accidents, while others have already come to the hospital to find out if their missing relatives were involved in the accident.
The accident happened at Mwembeni area in Taru along the Mombasa-Nairobi Highway when a Mombasa-bound matatu hit an oncoming trailer.
Some 15 people died on the spot, six died while being taken to hospital and others while undergoing treatment.
Only one victim, a 21-year-old woman, is still surviving.
The bodies of the six men, 11 women, and four children are at Kinango Subcounty Mortuary and the Moi County Referral Hospital in Voi.
Details have further emerged that the matatu driver was trying to overtake when he collided with an oncoming heavy commercial truck.
The 18-seater matatu was also said to have been overloaded with passengers.
The driver of the matatu has been identified as a man from Dembwa area of Taita Taveta and has been plying the Wundanyi-Mombasa route for some time.
On Saturday, families of the victims visited the Kinago and Moi County Referral Hospital to identify the bodies of their loved ones.
Relatives and villagers thronged the Moi County Referral Hospital morgue on Saturday and Sunday to identify the bodies that were moved to the facility on Friday night.
According to a relative, the group from Mgeno village boarded the matatu at Landi in the evening to go to a wedding that was supposed to be held on Saturday.
“We woke up to the shocking news that our people had perished in that accident. They were all going to attend a wedding ceremony for one of our relatives living in Mombasa,” John Mjomba, who lost a cousin, said.
Mjomba said they sensed danger when they could not reach their relatives on the phone shortly after news of the accident broke.
Four bodies of the relatives were found at Moi County Referral Hospital morgue in Voi while three others were still at Kinango hospital mortuary.
“We are mobilising resources to have all the bodies moved to Voi for easy preparation of burial. We are appealing to well-wishers to help us handle this heavy task,” he told the Star in an interview.
Dominic Kitando, another villager said plans are underway to bring home the body of another villager who had succumbed on Saturday night while undergoing treatment at the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital in Mombasa.
“One of the two people who had survived in the accident has passed on while receiving treatment in Mombasa. That brings the total number of my neighbours who perished to eight,” he said.
Kitando said the tragedy has thrown the village into mourning, noting that many families had been robbed of their breadwinners.
“Many of those who perished are breadwinners in their families. It is a sad moment for us as a community,” Kitando said.
Rozina Chao, who lost an 18 months-old niece and her sister, said the family was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the tragedy.
She tearfully recalled how the two left joyfully on Friday with a promise that they would represent the family in the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja on Saturday condoled with the families, terming the accident a big blow to the county.
He gave a personal donation of Sh330,000 to support them and give their loved ones a decent send-off.
