Three KURA Staff Among 6 Killed In Eldoret Accident

The other three victims were the driver of the matatu and two passengers.

Three KURA Staff Among 6 Killed In Eldoret Accident
Scene of the accident where a matatu collided with a tractor on Eldoret-Turbo Road on Wednesday, November 23, 2022. /TWITTER

The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) confirmed on Thursday, November 24 that three of its employees were among six people killed on Wednesday night, November 23 in a road accident at the Maili Tisa area on the Eldoret-Turbo Road.

In a statement, the authority noted that the trio were travelling in one of its vehicles and a tractor without headlights which collided with an 11-seater matatu on its way to Kitale from Nairobi.

The other three victims were the driver of the matatu and two passengers.

A yellow tape showing an accident scene. /FILE

The authority blamed the tractor loaded with a Sheller for causing confusion among the two drivers; that of KURA and that of the matatu.

"Preliminary information from eyewitnesses confirm that a tractor loaded with a Sheller emerged suddenly from a feeder road and caused confusion and panic among the two drivers leading to a head-on collision.

"The traffic police and members of the public managed to rush the injured to Moi Teaching and Referral hospital. Six lives were unfortunately lost in this accident, three of them being our staff and another three being driver and passengers in the Public Service vehicle heading to Kitale," read a statement signed by KURA Director General John Cheboi.

The traffic police and members of the public managed to rush the injured to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.

The authority added that it had reached out to immediate family members and relatives of the victims.

"We condole with the families, friends and relatives of the bereaved and pray to God to give them strength in this difficult time. We shall continue to update the public as the police undertake investigations and search for the owner of the tractor which disappeared from the scene," added the statement.

A witness had disclosed that the tractor had tried to join the highway at a time when the matatu was travelling at a high speed.

The wreckage of the vehicles was towed to the nearby Yamumbi police station.

The accident came amidst a recent report by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) explaining why the weekends of Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the most dangerous days on Kenyan roads.

"Most fatal road traffic crashes occur from Friday to Sunday, between 5.00 pm to 10.00 pm. The peak being 8.00p.m," NTSA stated in part on Thursday, November 17.

The authority also revealed that the total number of victims of road accidents shot up from 16,642 in 2021 to 17,550 from January to October 30, 2022.

Deaths also rose from 3,733 to 3,924 while cases of serious injuries went from 8,214 cases to 7,982.

NTSA attributed the weekends as the most dangerous days on the road to reduced enforcement, high volumes of traffic and pedestrians, and driver fatigue.

A collage of the three vehicles involved in a road accident at Kamakis along the Eastern Bypass on Sunday, October 30, 2022. /CHARLES KAGUMA