4 perish in Nyeri crash near Dedan Kimathi University

This was the scene after the crash at Embassy, near Dedan Kimathi University, in Nyeri County on July 25, 2017. PHOTO | NICHOLAS KOMU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The smash-up is said to have been caused by the lorry driver who lost control while trying to overtake.

  • The driver of the lorry, identified as Mr Joseph Kinyanjui, was arrested on the scene.

  • Police said he was drunk at the time of the accident.

Four people have been killed in a grisly crash involving four vehicles at Embassy, near Dedan Kimathi University.

The collision involving three personal cars and a lorry occurred a few minutes past 3pm on the Nyeri-Nyahururu highway.

3 HURT

The four died on the spot while three others were injured.

The smash-up is said to have been caused by the lorry driver, who was said to have lost control while trying to overtake.

The driver of the lorry was arrested at the scene.

Police said he was drunk at the time of the accident.

According to witnesses at the scene, the lorry that was transporting animal feeds was heading towards Nyeri town.

The driver attempted to overtake another lorry but lost control of the truck and rammed three on-coming vehicles, two saloon cars and a sport utility vehicle.

TAXI

The first vehicle to be hit, a Toyota station wagon, was carrying two people, a man and a woman.

Both died on the spot.

A man who, according to witnesses, was heading home from a medical clinic after he was injured in a previous accident was among the casualties in the second vehicle, a taxi.

His wife, who had accompanied him to hospital in Nyeri town, was seriously injured in the crash.

The driver of the taxi died as other motorists and police attempted to rescue him from the mangled wreckage.

Occupants of the third vehicle escaped with minor injuries.

DRUNK

Nyeri Central divisional police commander Muinde Kioko confirmed that the driver of the lorry, who escaped unhurt, had been locked up.

“We have arrested the driver and we are still gathering facts on what transpired. But the driver appeared intoxicated at the time of the arrest,” he said.

He is likely to be charged with causing death through reckless driving.

The bodies of the deceased were taken to the Nyeri County Referral Hospital mortuary while the wreckages were towed to Nyeri Central Police Station.