At least 12 people were killed in a gruesome accident involving a van and a pickup truck at the infamous Nithi Bridge along the Meru-Nairobi road on Saturday night.
Police and witnesses said the August 31 accident involved a Nairobi-bound hired private Toyota Hiace and a Toyota Hilux driven toward Chogoria.
The 10-seater van, which was heading to Nairobi, collided head-on with the Meru-bound pickup at around 9 pm, Tharaka Nithi police commander Zacheaus Ng’eno said.
He said the dead included 10 adults and two children. They were all in the same car.
Two other people in a pickup who included the driver were injured and rushed to hospital.
“The vehicle was new to the Meru-Embu road and was in the wrong lane when the accident happened,” Ng’eno said.
The van was part of a convoy carrying a group of friends who were in Meru for a parental blessing ceremony.
Some of those behind the affected car spoke of scary moments before it happened.
“We were heading back to Kajiado after the ceremony. When we reached the steep descent, I saw the vehicle in front of us veer off the road.”
Ng’eno said the driver behind the Nairobi-bound vehicle was not conversant with the road and thus swerved off its lane to collide with the oncoming car headed to Meru.
“Preliminary investigations show that the motor vehicle coming from the Meru had not regularly used this road. We may assume that the driver did not take to his lane as expected hence the head-on collision,” said Ng’eno.
Ng’eno called on the motorists to exercise extreme care, especially when navigating new routes.
Tharaka Nithi County Fire and Rescue Department official Alex Mugambi cautioned members of the public against milling around accident scenes, as this would make rescue efforts difficult and increase the chances of more accidents.
Fatal accidents have been on the rise amid efforts to address the trend.
This is tie latest such incident to happen in the country amid calls to address trend.
In October 2023, NTSA unveiled the National Road Safety Action Plan (2023- 2027) which aims to achieve a 50 per cent reduction in deaths and severe injuries in designated high-risk demonstration corridors and urban areas.
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