Six people died while another sustained serious injury after the vehicles they were travelling collided head-on in Kericho county on Monday.
The accident occurred at Duka Moja along the busy Kericho-Nakuru highway, a few kilometres from Kericho town.
The 7.30pm incident happened when a Toyota Probox collided head-on with a lorry which was on the opposite side.
Preliminary reports indicated that it was raining heavily when the accident occurred.
The injured person was rushed to Kericho County Referral Hospital for treatment.
Those who died were in the Toyota Probox.
It took the police and members of the public more time to disengage the wrecked vehicles from the lorry to get to the mangled bodies.
The driver of the lorry was unhurt and it is alleged that he escaped after the accident.
The bodies, which were mutilated, were taken to the hospital mortuary for preservation.
The accident occurred a day after Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said that the country is losing an average of 3,500 lives through road accidents annually.
Speaking in Narok county on Sunday, Murkomen said that concerted efforts need to be made by all Kenyans to stop the menace adding that the road users should be responsible while using the roads.
He added that since the independence times, there has not been a clear strategy to curb the road menace.
“The road carnage is a national catastrophe; the fight should be all-inclusive by not blaming my ministry alone. We need to work as a team to tackle it,” Murkomen said.
He said that the currently rising road accidents are a result of impunity by drivers who fail to adhere to the traffic rules and regulations.
Murkomen decried the lack of resources to empower the NTSA and traffic officers saying it has led to the officers not discharging their duties as mandated.
“Since independence, the traffic department has been facing inadequate funds for these officers who are key in fighting the menace,” he noted.
The CS also said that plans are underway for technological installation and instant fining to serve as a deterrence to the vice.
He said a regulation is currently at the Attorney General’s office and the National Parliament in addition to real-time mobile cameras fitted in all motor vehicles to help in accountability over accidents.
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