6 Students Killed After Matatu Collides With Lorry In Naivasha [PHOTOS]

At least six students were on Tuesday, April 18 killed after a Nissan matatu they were travelling in collided with a lorry along the Nairobi- Nakuru Highway near Delamere farm in Naivasha.

Naivasha OCPD Samuel Waweru confirmed the accident, according to The Standard, stating that the matatu was ferrying students from a boarding school on its way to Nairobi from Western Kenya.

Books, shoes, school bags and other personal materials were strewn all over the accident scene according to photos seen by Viral Tea.

Wreckage of the matatu that was involved in an accident near Delamere farm in Naivasha along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway. /STANDARD DIGITAL

Police arrived at the scene of the accident to clear the traffic that was building up on both sides in the aftermath of the accident.

Eyewitnesses rushed to the scene to assist in the evacuation of the students from the wreckage.

At least 10 others who were injured were rushed to Naivasha County Hospital for medical attention while the six students died on the spot.

Kenya Red Cross stated that the accident occurred at 1.55 pm with the PSV from SWAT Sacco colliding with a transit trailer and losing control before veering into a lorry.

"Among the passengers were 11 students and a driver from Mbihi Friends High School. Our KRCS team has set up a tracing desk at the hospital to support the affected families," Kenya Red Cross stated in part.

The accident adds to the number of road crashes in recent weeks that is threatening to turn the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway into one of the most dangerous roads to drive on.

Easy Coach on Monday, April 3 issued a statement after one of its buses rammed into a trailer near Naivasha weighbridge along the Nairobi‐Nakuru Highway on Sunday night, April 2.

The bus company revealed that the bus, which was reportedly full of passengers, was travelling to Malaba on Kenya's western border with Uganda when it collided with a trailer before the former veered off the highway.

Easy Coach added that the truck was trying to overlap while travelling in the opposite direction before the accident.

The Easy Coach accident came a few days after an accident involving a bus belonging to Pwani University that killed 18 people occurred along the same highway.

According to the latest data from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), the number of road fatalities decreased by 4.6 per cent in the past year. 

NTSA detailed that the number of fatalities involving pedestrians, pillion passengers and motorcyclists had reduced from 1,021 to 974 between March 20, 2023, and the same date the previous year. 

Driver fatalities, however, increased from 95 in 2022 to 98 in 2023, while passenger fatalities increased from 154 in 2022 to 171 in 2023 and that of pedal cyclists increased from 15 in 2022 to 17 in 2023.