Nine die, several injured in New Year accidents

As Kenyans ushered in 2015, four people died in a road crash as they left the Machakos Park, where they had gone to welcome the new year. The accident brought the new-year death toll to nine, after another five people died on the Naivasha-Nakuru highway. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• The four were among seven people returning from the Machakos Park, where they had gone to usher in the new year.
• Their van lost control and rolled over near Maanzoni at 6am on January 1, 2014.
• Three other people who were also in the van and who were injured were transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital following a request from their families.
• The accident pushed to nine the number of people who died on the first day of 2015, after another five people died along the Naivasha-Nakuru highway.

By STELLA CHERONO
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Four people, among them two brothers and their cousin, died in the early morning of New Year’s Day in Machakos when their vehicle veered off the road and rolled over several times.

The four were among seven people returning from the Machakos Park, where they had gone to usher in the new year.

Their van lost control and rolled over near Maanzoni at 6am on January 1, 2014.

Machakos Deputy County Police Commander Joseph ole Leina said police were yet to establish why the van lost control but he said the driver might have been driving at a high speed.

“Two (people) died on the spot while the other two died at the Machakos Level Five Hospital, where they had been taken for treatment,” Mr Leina said.

Three other people who were also in the van and who were injured were transferred to the Kenyatta National Hospital following a request from their families.

The accident pushed to nine the number of people who died on the first day of 2015, after another five people died along the Naivasha-Nakuru highway.

FATAL ACCIDENTS DOWN IN 2014

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) said that although fatal accidents declined by nine per cent in 2014, the number of deaths were still high.

NTSA Road Safety Director Matthew Munyao said a total of 2,907 people died in 2014, compared with the 3,218 who died in 2013.

The authority estimated that a total of 19 people died countrywide over the Christmas holiday between December 24 and December 26.

“Last year, within the two days of Christmas, there were 54 deaths” Mr Munyao said, adding that the accident that happened in Migori, where five family members died, was reclassified.

According to the authority, close to 3,000 people died on Kenyan roads as a result of accidents over the past one year.

Another 8,670 sustained injuries, in the statistics that exclude those recorded after December 18, 2014. Most of the fatalities and casualties were pedestrians.

Over the past one month, the NTSA has been conducting intensive road safety campaigns that included advertisements on the media.

A team was earlier in the month set up to monitor night travel by public service vehicles in December 2014.

Officers were sent to 20 locations on major roads and in major towns to ensure vehicles issued with night travel licenses do not flout them.

Rules to regulate night travel were introduced following a deadly road crash at Ntulele in Narok County on August 29, 2014 that killed 40 people and provoked a public outcry.