All the deceased are relatives and friends who were coming from a parental blessing ceremony in Meru when tragedy struck on Saturday night.
The vehicle in which they were travelling in collided headon with another one heading in the opposite direction.
Tharaka Nithi County Police Commander Zacchaeus Ng’eno confirmed the accident, noting that the driver was not well-versed with the road.
Two people survived the tragedy and were rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
“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.
The survivors were rushed to Chogoria Mission Hospital and Chuka hospital for specialised treatment.
The commander added that at the driver of the ill-fated Toyota Hiace was driving in the wrong lane at the time of the tragedy.
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“From the preliminary investigation, the motor vehicle from Meru direction was not a regular user of this road and and I may assume that the did not stay in the lane as expected of him and was involved in a head-on collision with a vehicle headed in the opposite direction.”
8 male adults were among those confirmed dead while two were female adults.
Two children also lost their lives in the tragedy with the police boss empathising with the families of the deceased.
“We feel empathy for the lives that we have lost. The number of fatalities is 12, 10 adults and 2 children. 8 female and two male,” Ng’eno added.
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National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) also confirmed the accident in an update, noting that police and emergency responders had been dispatched to the scene.
“Two separate traffic crashes 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 stretch of road along Nithi bridge is a notorious black spot that has claimed hundreds of lives in different accidents.
Commenting on the blackspot where many lives have been lost, the then Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen, who has since been moved to the Sports and Youth Affairs docket, announced a plan to straighten the road to eliminate the blindspot.
“We could design that road to make it straight from the bridge up as you go towards Meru. We have a plan in the ministry of ensuring that our highways are monitored by digital cameras,” said Murkomen in 2023.
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This however remains a promise and it is unclear when machines will roar to life.
