The death toll of the early morning accident at Eveready Roundabout in Nakuru County is seven, a senior medic has confirmed.
Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital Medical Superintendent, Emanuel Sinei, said the hospital received seven bodies and 12 survivors from the accident.
He said among the survivors were two women and 10 men, with most of them suffering multiple trauma injuries.
Sinei said three of the survivors had been admitted to the men’s surgical ward with severe head injuries for further surgical and orthopedic management, while another three with soft tissue injuries were treated and discharged.
“The seven people died at the scene along the busy Nakuru-Eldoret Highway, and their bodies were preserved at the hospital morgue awaiting a post-mortem,” he said.
The road crash involved a long-distance track and a 14-seater matatu that were moving towards Nakuru.
Addressing journalists at the hospital, Sinei said most of the survivors sustained multiple fractures and head injuries.
“The rest are under observation as medics investigate the extent of their injuries,” he added.
He noted that some of the survivors may still end up in the ward, while others may have to go to the theatre.
Eyewitnesses say that the truck may have suffered break failure because the driver was hooting and flashing lights as the vehicle sped down the sloppy stretch.
Tony Otieno blamed the police for erecting a roadblock and a dangerous stretch and urged Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to have them removed.
"If police had stopped the matatu at the rubble bumps, about 20 metres from the roundabout, the passenger vehicle would not have been hit if it was moving,” he claimed.
Otieno’s statement was echoed by other eyewitnesses at the scene who accused the police of using the roadblock to collect money from motorists, especially public service vehicles.
Their claims were dismissed by Nakuru Town West subcounty police commander Francis Wahome who claimed that most of the eyewitnesses didn’t see what happened.
Wahome added that the police had a hard time clearing the scene because people started stealing maize from the truck.
The two vehicles were towed to Kaptembwa Police Station pending inspection.