12 people lost their lives in a grisly accident on Saturday night, August 31, when a van collided head-on with a pickup truck at Nithi Bridge’s black spot along the Meru-Embu Road in Tharaka Nithi County.
The crash at around 9:00 p.m. resulted in the deaths of 12 van passengers, including eight women, two men, and two teenagers, according to a police report released on Sunday.
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“The accident happened when the driver of the vehicle failed to keep to his proper lane, hence colliding head-on with the Toyota pickup,” the police report stated.
Preliminary reports suggest that the van, unfamiliar with the steep descent of the Nithi Valley, may have suffered brake failure, causing it to cross into the wrong lane and leading to the fatal collision with the Toyota pickup truck.
“The vehicle was new to the Meru-Embu road and was in the wrong lane when the accident happened. We have collected ten bodies while two injured passengers are recovering in the hospital,” he said.
One of the survivors, part of a convoy of friends returning to Kajiado after attending a parental blessing ceremony in Meru, recounted the harrowing incident.
“We were heading back to Kajiado after the ceremony. When we reached the steep descent, I saw the vehicle in front of us veering off the road. It crossed the barriers separating the two lanes and collided with an oncoming pickup truck. There were 10 adults and two children in the vehicle,” the witness told reporters.
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Authorities have yet to identify the deceased van passengers. Their bodies have been moved to the Chuka Referral Hospital mortuary, where they will be preserved until identification and autopsies are conducted.
The driver of the pickup truck sustained a fracture to his right leg, while another passenger suffered severe head injuries. Both were rushed to Chuka Referral Hospital for treatment.
Both vehicles sustained extensive damage in the collision and were towed to Chogoria Police Station for further inspection.
