5 killed in matatu crash at Sachangwan blackspot
A matatu accident at the Sachangwan blackspot left five people dead on May 15, 2023.
Five people died on Monday morning when the 14-seater matatu they were travelling in hit a bump, veered off the Nakuru-Eldoret road and landed in a ditch.
Molo sub-county police commander Mwenda Mutamia confirmed the report, saying this was a self-involved accident. The crash involving an Eldoret Shuttle Sacco matatu took place at 2am.
"The speeding vehicle was ferrying passengers from Eldoret to Nairobi. Six adults and two children were among those who sustained minor injuries and were rushed to Molo sub-county hospital," Mr Mutamia said.
He urged motorists to be cautious while driving at night.
The bodies were taken to that hospital’s mortuary and the wreckage of the matatu towed to Molo Police Station.
The accident comes barely a month after four passengers, among them a secondary school student, were killed at the Mau Summit area near Sachangwan, which is also a blackspot.
Other accident black spots along the Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret road are the Ngata-Sobea-Salgaa stretch, Migaa, Karai, Kinungi, Mbaruk, Gilgil and St Mary’s. Forty people perished in the Karai area in an accident in 2017.
Other blackspots are the Gilgil-Nakuru-Kasambara-Kikopey stretch and the Timboroa and Makutano junction - the Burnt Forest section.
The Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret road ismost important to Western Kenya and the artery that connects Kenya to the landlocked countries of Uganda, Southern Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi.
The road is used for transporting most of the West-bound cargo from the Port of Mombasa and Nairobi.
However, it is among the most dangerous roads in the region.
