12 individuals have been confirmed to have perished in a Saturday night traffic accident along the Embu-Meru highway on August 31, 2024.
According to police statements, a vehicle ferrying a team of travellers who had gone to seek parental blessing in Meru collided with another vehicle around the Nithi Bridge area.
Police indicate that the driver of the 14-seater Yoyota Hiace which was headed to Nairobi was not conversant with the highway and was descending using a climbing lane along the road when the vehicle hit an oncoming pick-up.
“Seemingly the motor vehicle that was coming from the Meru direction is not a motor vehicle that regularly uses this road. We may assume that the driver did not keep to his lane as was expected of him,” Tharaka Nithi police commander Zaccheaus Ng’eno said.
Ngeno added that the twelve bodies had been removed from the accident scene, further mentioning that two individuals who had sustained serious injuries had been rushed and checked into the Chogoria Mission Hospital and Chuka Hospital for specialised treatment.
“So far, we are confirming that we have collected 12 bodies from this scene and two others injured. This accident involved two motor vehicles, one was headed towards Nairobi and the other towards Meru,” Ng’eno stated.
He noted that eight of the affected individuals were female, two were male including the driver while the other two were children.
Moments after the accident on Saturday night, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) said it had dispatched officers to the region to assess the scene.
Separate accidents
NTSA further confirmed that another accident had happened in the Murram area just past Koru.
“Alert: Two separate traffic crà shes involving public service vehicles have been reported at the Nithi Bridge and the other at Murram area ( after Koru). The National Police Service and emergency responders are on scene,” NTSA stated.
The accident came as NTSA intensified their campaigns on road safety during the period of school reopening, urging drivers to exercise extra caution on the road.
Among the measures that the NTSA advised motorists to take note of are the vehicle headlights and other aspects that could lead to accidents on the road.
Black spot
The Nithi Bridge is a known black spot along the Meru-Embu highway. In April, four individuals perished after a bus carrying close to 39 passengers was involved in an accident, hurting several others.
Also, 38 students and 10 teachers narrowly escaped after their bus lost brakes in the Nithi Bridge area and landed in a ditch.
