Requiem mass held for nine mourners who died in Naivasha road crash

Nakuru County government has waived all medical and mortuary fees for the families of the nine mourners who died in a grisly road accident last week.

Ahead of the burial of the six women and three men, the county also promised to cater for medical fees of the five patients who are still admitted in Naivasha sub-county hospital.

This emerged during an emotional joint requiem mass for the victims at Kongoni trading center 30kms from Naivasha town.

On Saturday, a group of mourners heading to Naivasha from Kisii were involved in a grisly road accident along the Mai Mahiu-Narok road leaving nine dead.

A mini-bus they were traveling in was hit by a lorry ferrying sand killing seven on the spot while two others died while undergoing treatment.

While consoling the bereaved families, Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui expressed his concern over an increase in the number of accidents in the county.

Kinyanjui said that the county would continue to offer support to the affected families as they planned to bury their loved ones.

“The county as part of supporting these families has waived all the medical fees that were incurred during their treatment,” he said.

The Governor pointed to drivers of sand lorries as the main culprits of careless driving adding that bad decisions had left many families mourning.

On her part, Naivasha MP Jane Kihara termed the accident as traumatising adding that they would continue supporting the affected families.

She praised the medical team at Naivasha hospital for working overboard to treat those injured during the 2am accident.

“This accident has taught us that we are one family and we should continue to support each other regardless of our party affiliations,” she said.

One of the relatives James Nyakundi noted that he lost a sister moments after burying another kin on the day of the accident.

“Those mourners had come to our home for a funeral and we parted well only to get calls hours later that they had been involved in an accident,” he said.

Another relative, Christine Nafula noted that the majority of those who died were young people who had young families.

“Many of those who died have left very young families and are appealing to the county and other leaders to continue supporting them,” she said.

Others who spoke were Maella MCA Gathariki Kamanu who thanked the county for waiving the medical bills.

“The driver of the sand lorry was to blame for this accident and we shall continue to pray for the five mourners who are still in hospital,” he said.