Three people have lost their lives and several others were injured in a grisly road accident that occurred early Monday morning along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway at the Kwambira area.
The accident, which happened around 6 a.m., involved a head-on collision between a Luxury Sacco public service vehicle (PSV) headed to Nairobi from the western region and a lorry traveling in the opposite direction from Nakuru. The impact left the matatu’s driver’s side extensively damaged, indicating the severity of the crash.
According to eyewitnesses, locals were the first to arrive at the scene and used makeshift tools, including axes, to rescue passengers trapped in the wreckage. The lorry overturned, leaving some survivors pinned inside its cabin.
Emergency response teams from Nakuru County, alongside police officers, arrived shortly after to coordinate rescue efforts. Survivors were rushed to nearby hospitals as operations briefly halted traffic to clear the wreckage and clean the road, which was stained with debris and blood.
The accident caused a major traffic jam as both vehicles blocked the busy highway, rendering it impassable for hours.
This tragedy comes just days after a similar incident at Kamandura Junction in Kiambu County claimed seven lives when a 14-seater matatu lost control and overturned. In another crash last week, 12 people also perished along the same highway, raising growing concerns about the spike in road accidents.
Authorities have launched investigations into Monday’s crash, with many attributing the rising fatalities to the onset of the April rains and poor road safety practices.
The Nairobi-Nakuru highway, one of the country’s busiest transport corridors, continues to be a hotspot for fatal road accidents.
