Eight people die in grisly road along Mai Mahiu-Narok road

Eight people died on Friday night after a van they were travelling in was involved in an accident along the Mai Mahiu-Narok road.

The five women and three men were returning to Naivasha from Kisii when their mini-bus rammed head-on into a lorry near Mafuta Taa centre.

The eight who are members of the Catholic Church in Kongoni Naivasha were on their way back from a burial before the 2 am accident occurred.

Emotions ran high at Naivasha Sub-County Hospital mortuary as friends and relatives moved in to identify those who had died.

According to Naivasha MP Jane Kihara who was among those at the mortuary, a group of friends had travelled to Kisii for a burial of a friend who died last week.

She said that while on the way back, the mini-bus they had hired was hit by an oncoming lorry ferrying sand leading to the deaths with both drivers escaping unscathed

“This is a sad day for the people of Naivasha and we are asking our drivers to be cautious mainly at night when visibility is a challenge,” she said.

A friend of some of the deceased David Kilo said that those who had perished included a flower farm worker, some traders and fishermen.

Kilo called on the county government to intervene so that those who were seriously injured could be transferred for specialized treatment.

“The group that comes from Olkaria ward had hired the mini-bus to attend a friend’s burial but unfortunately the unthinkable has happened,” he said.

Speaking on phone, Naivasha OCPD Samuel Waweru confirmed the incident adding that four others were seriously injured.

He said that seven of the victims died on the spot while the eighth passed on while undergoing treatment.

“We have lost eight people after the driver of a mini-bus veered off his lane and rammed into a lorry heading in the opposite direction,” he said.