Residents Loot Maize From Trailer Involved In Eldoret-Nakuru Highway Accident [VIDEO]

Residents of Nakuru on Sunday, December 31 took full advantage of a trailer that was transporting maize, which rammed into a matatu in a grisly accident along the Eldoret-Nakuru Highway which claimed the lives of seven people.

A video seen by Viral Tea showed the residents climbing onto the back of the trailer and making away with the staple food packaged in sacks, in full view of an armed police officer who was at the scene.

Possibly in anticipation for consuming the maize during the New Year festivities, a woman was meanwhile seen wailing uncontrollably next to the crashed matatu which suffered most of the damage.

Video courtesy of Citizen Digital:

Nakuru residents loot maize from a trailer that rammed into a matatu. More than five people have been confirmed dead from the Eldoret-Nakuru highway morning crash. pic.twitter.com/iik0hjzy1p — Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) December 31, 2023

Several others sustained varying injuries following the road accident involving the trailer and two other vehicles.

According to police, the 7:20am accident at the Eveready roundabout occured after the driver of a trailer lost control of his vehicle before ramming into a matatu which subsequently collided  with another trailer.  

The three vehicles were all en route to Nakuru from Eldoret.

"Today 31/12/2023 at around 0720hrs, five passengers lost their lives on the spot through a tragic fatal road traffic accident that occurred at Eveready Roundabout along Eldoret -Nakuru Highway.

"The driver of the trailer Reg No.KCG 355Y/ZE1279 lost control and rammed into a Matatu belonging to Ngata Sacco Matatu which in turn rammed onto another trailer KDB 341D/ZG4149 Actross. Several other passengers sustained serious injuries and were rushed to Nakuru Level Five Hospital for treatment," stated the National Police Service (NPS).

Two more victims were reported to have died while undergoing treatment.

The injured persons have since been taken to Nakuru Level V Hospital for treatment while the wreckages of the vehicles have been towed to Kaptembwo Police Station. 

The accident comes merely hours after comedian Mulamwah was involved in a grisly road accident along the same highway, a few metres from the scene of Sunday's crash.

According to Mulamwah, the vehicle in front had stopped suddenly at Ngata Bridge just before Nakuru on Saturday afternoon, December 30, following emergency braking, before the accident occurred.

At the time of the crash, he was travelling alongside his friend, with both of them escaping with minor injuries.

On Monday, December 18, Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen confirmed that 3,999 people died in road accidents between January and December 7, 2023, a reduction number from the 4,352 recorded within the same period in 2022.

Scene of a road accident along Eldoret-Nakuru Highway on December 31, 2023. /NATIONAL POLICE SERVICE