Eight people died on the spot after a matatu they were travelling in rammed into a stationary lorry along the Webuye-Eldoret highway at dawn on Sunday.
There were no survivors from the accident that occurred at Musembe area.
Western regional police commander Perris Kimani confirmed the incident.
“It is like the driver panicked on abruptly seeing a stationary lorry and tried to swerve but the lorry ripped off the roof and the metals beheaded all the occupants,” Kimani said.
The matatu which was travelling from Webuye is said to have had eight occupants on board at the time of accident.
The bodies of the victims were moved to the Webuye sub county hospital mortuary, pending postmortem examinations.
The driver of the truck the matatu rammed into, Nicholas Mwangi said he had stopped behind another trailer that had stalked on he road to assist the driver, when the speeding Nissan smirked into his lorry from behind.
“I saw a truck ahead whose driver I know that had stalled on the road so I slowed down and stopped behind him. But moments after I had alighted I heard a bang and saw the matatu ripped off the roof,” Mwangi said.
Mwangi was traveling towards Eldoret from Uganda.
It still remains unclear whether the deceased were family members or general passengers.
According to the National Transport and Safety Authority, more than 3,500 lives were lost on the roads between January and November, 2021.
The Authority said out of the registered 3,564 deaths, pedestrians and motorcyclists were the most affected with 1,241 and 984 deaths, respectively.
In December 2021, NTSA launched several road safety initiatives to sensitise road users as they planned to travel to various destinations for the Christmas festivities.
