Race to save 16 passengers injured in grisly road accident

Piece by: KNA by Dominic Cheres / Kibe Mburu
Lifestyle
Kiptere travellers Sacco 14 seater matatu that lost control and plunged into a ditch along the Kericho-Kisumu road junction injuring sixteen passengers on Tuesday August 10, 2021
Kiptere travellers Sacco 14 seater matatu that lost control and plunged into a ditch along the Kericho-Kisumu road junction injuring sixteen passengers on Tuesday August 10, 2021
Image: Photo by Grace Njoki.

Sixteen passengers sustained serious injuries Tuesday morning after a matatu vehicle they were traveling in lost control and plunged into a ditch at Kericho-Kisumu road junction.

Confirming the incident, the Kericho County Police Commander Silas Gichunge said that the injured passengers were rushed to Siloam Hospital and Kericho county referral hospital for treatment.

Gichunge while speaking to KNA in his office said that no fatalities were reported in the accident that occurred at 9.00 am.

He said that the 14 seater matatu from Kiptere travellers Sacco which was heading to Kericho from Kisumu lost control and veered off into a ditch on reaching the Kericho-Kisumu junction.

The police commander said the driver of the vehicle may have been speeding at the time of the accident and called on PSV drivers and others to exercise caution while nearing Kericho- Kisumu junction, which is at the moment quite busy since construction of an ultra-modern interchange was ongoing and several diversions have been erected at the site.

Gichunge said that six of the passengers including three males and three females were rushed to Siloam Hospital, while the remaining 10 comprised of four males and six females were rushed to the Kericho county referral hospital.

At the same time, the Red Cross County coordinator Siphia Tuei said one of the one of injured passengers admitted at Kericho referral Hospital was a pregnant woman who lost her unborn baby during the accident.

Tuei also urged motorists to drive responsibly while keeping recommended speed limits of 80 kilometres per hour or less while plying along towns and sections of the roads still under construction.

Meanwhile, the county has so far recorded about 46 cases of accidents comprised of 36 injuries and 10 fatalities between January and August this year.

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