9 KILLED

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 23 - At least nine people were killed on Friday morning when a bus they were travelling in collided head on with a truck on the Naivasha-Mai Mahiu road.

The bus was headed to Nairobi from Busia when the accident occurred at 5am, police said.

“Eight people were killed on the spot while another one died on the way to hospital. Many other passengers sustained injuries and are admitted to hospital,” Rift Valley Provincial Police Commander Francis Munyambu said.

Mr Munyambu told Capital News the exact cause of the accident had not been established “but there is a likelihood the bus was overtaking when the collision occurred.”

“The injured passengers were taken to hospitals in Nakuru and Naivasha,” Mr Munyambu told Capital News when reached on telephone.

He did not give details of the identities of the victims who perished in the dawn accident ‘because their next of kin were yet to be informed.’

Police said the accident occurred at a place considered a black spot for motorists due to the high number of accidents that have occurred there.

At least two or three accidents occur on the Mai Mahiu-Naivasha stretch weekly, with many more occurring on the Narok-Mai Mahiu road, according to statistics available at the Traffic Headquarters in Nairobi.

The statistics further show that 10 to 15 people are killed in road accidents which occur in various parts of the country every week.