On Saturday night, a tragic accident at Nithi Bridge resulted in the loss of 12 lives when the vehicle they were in collided head-on with another vehicle.
During a press briefing at the scene, Tharaka Nithi County Police Commander Zacchaeus Ng’eno reported that the victims were passengers returning from a parental blessing ceremony in Meru, traveling in a Toyota Hiace.
The commander further stated that the driver was unfamiliar with the highway and was operating the vehicle in the incorrect lane at the time of the incident.
“So far, we are confirming that we have collected 12 bodies from this scene and two others injured. This accident involved two motor vehicles, one was headed towards Nairobi and the other towards Meru,” Ng’eno stated.
“From the preliminary investigation, the motor vehicle from Meru direction was not a regular user of this road and and I may assume that the did not stay in the lane as expected of him and was involved in a head-on collision with a vehicle headed in the opposite direction.”
The commander further confirmed that two survivors were rushed to Chogoria Mission Hospital and Chuka hospital for specialised treatment.
He added that from the crashed, 8 of the deceased adults were male while the other two were female.
“We feel empathy for the lives that we have lost. The number of fatalities is 12, 10 adults and 2 children. 8 female and two male,” he added.
Alex Mugambi who heads Tharaka Nithi County Fire and Rescue Department and his team also arrived at the accident scene promptly to initiate rescue efforts.
While speaking to the press, Mugambi cautioned the public against crowding at accident scenes, warning that it could lead to further accidents.
He noted that moments after the crash, another vehicle, a Sienta, rammed into a stalled milk lorry at the same scene.
The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) confirmed the two crashes last night noting that police officers had been dispatched to the accident scene to handle the situation.
“Two separate traffic crashes involving public service vehicles have been reported at the Nithi Bridge and the other at Murram area ( after Koru). The National Police Service and emergency responders are on scene,” read an alert from NTSA.
