The wreck of the matatu involved in an accident on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, Friday. [PHOTO: COLLINS KWEYU/STANDARD]

By ANTONY GITONGA 

Kinungi, Kenya: Six people travelling for the Easter break perished in a grisly road accident on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, bringing a dull twist to the festivities.

The accident involving a 14-seater matatu and a lorry occurred at the notorious Kinungi trading centre, 10 kilometres from Naivasha town.

Three people were seriously injured in the accident that came a day after another killed 11 passengers on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway.

The vehicle was heading to Nairobi from Nyahururu when it collided head on with a truck.

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Survivors blamed the accident on the driver, saying he was speeding and their pleas to slow down were ignored.  The driver, whose name could not be immediately established, escaped from the scene.

Loud bang

In the Naivasha accident a father and son were among those who died. Others that lost their lives were a one-year-old child, two teenagers and a middle-aged woman who was decapitated in the early morning accident.

A survivor, Pastor Anthony Njagi said he had been praying for most of the journey before the accident occurred.

“We had told the driver to slow down but he ignored our pleas and minutes after I fell asleep, I was woken by a loud bang only to find that we had been involved in an accident,” said Njagi, who was uninjured.

Another passenger Joyce Waithera who said that the driver appeared unfamiliar with the route echoed the sentiments. “He was driving very fast before the accident occurred,” she said.

A local leader, James Kabono, said that the matatu was trying to overtake when it hit an incoming lorry.

“The matatu was speeding and it rammed head on into an incoming lorry, killing the six while three were rushed to Kijabe Mission Hospital in critical condition,” he said.

He decried the high number of accidents on the section of the highway and called for urgent measures to address the situation.

Scores njured

“Over the weekend we lost three people and scores were left injured. It is time we sought a lasting solution to these accidents,” he said.

Naivasha OCPD Charles Kortok said investigations had started. He blamed speeding for the accident, adding that they were seeking the driver of the matatu to record a statement.

The mangled wrecks were towed to Naivasha police station while the bodies are lying at the Naivasha Sub-county Hospital Mortuary.