Five people have been confirmed dead with several others rushed to hospital following a tragic road accident along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on Saturday morning.
The accident involved a 14-seater matatu registered under Eldoret Cross Roads Shuttle Sacco that was ferrying passengers from Eldoret towards Nakuru and a truck.
Reports indicate that the matatu rammed into the mobile truck near Salgaa along the busy highway at around 3am.
According to police who arrived at the scene shortly after the accident, the driver of the trailer drove off after the accident, fleeing the scene in which at least four people were left dead with several others batting for their lives with serious injuries.
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Nakuru County Police Commander Samuel Ndanyi confirmed that three women and a man died on the spot with eight passengers rushed to Nakuru County and Referral Hospital in serious condition.
Investigations have been launched to establish the cause of the accident.
The bodies of the deceased were moved to the Nakuru County morgue pending identification by relatives and postmortem.
The wreckage of the 14-seater matatu was towed to Salgaa police station with the hunt for the trailer that escaped the scene also commencing.
NTSA data on road accidents in 2024
Government agencies and other stakeholders have been working round the clock to tame road carnage in the country.
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The surge in road accidents have seen NTSA officers make a comeback on Kenyan roads with government cracking down on rogue motorists and road users.
Data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) revealed that 7,198 people were involved in roads accidents between January 1 to April 1 this year.
The data indicates a significant increase of 1,908 compared to the same period last year.
NTSA further revealed that of the 7,198 involved in road accidents during the period, 1,189 died while 3,316 were seriously injured with 2,693 suffering minor injuries.
This was an increase compared to the same period last year where deaths from road accidents stood at 1,129, with those seriously injured at 2,435, and 1,726 left with minor injuries.
During the period, pedestrians and motorcyclists accounted for the highest fatalities at 436 and 276 respectively.
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NTSA revealed that the accidents also claimed the lives of 255 passengers, 98 drivers and 102 pillion passengers compared to 211, 105 and 108 passengers, pillion passengers and drivers who died during a similar period last year in that respective order.