Alarm as 20 accident deaths recorded in 24 hours

It was pain and tears at the Sultan Hamud sub-county hospital mortuary in Makueni, as families gathered to collect the bodies of 17 people who died in the Salama accident along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway on Saturday.

The 17, members of St. Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church in Mikindani, Mombasa, were on their way to Subukia in Nakuru for the National Prayer Day when their journey was tragically cut short.

The families of the victims camped at the mortuary from early Sunday morning awaiting the results of a postmortem exercise before they were allowed to collect the bodies of their loved ones for burial.

This comes as the death toll from road accidents in the last 24 hours has hit 20.

In another tragic turn of events one woman perished at another accident in Kithimani Machakos County along Garissa road on Saturday night.

The deceased was among catholic faithful who were aboard a 14-seater matatu that was involved in accident while travelling back to Masinga from the prayers at the Subukia shrine in Nakuru.

Meanwhile, a boda boda rider died in Kuresoi North on Saturday night after his motorcycle collided with an oncoming vehicle.

In a separate accident, a private vehicle carrying three occupants was hit from behind, while entering a petrol station along the Mau Summit Road. The second vehicle was reportedly speeding; the driver died, while the three occupants of the other car sustained injuries and were rushed to hospital for treatment.