Infant among five killed in grisly crash on Nakuru-Eldoret Highway

Five people, among them an infant, have died after their vehicle was involved in a grisly road crash at Mbaruk area in Gilgil along the Nakuru-Eldoret Highway.

The Monday evening accident involved three vehicles with all the five victims on board one private car, according to Nakuru County Traffic Enforcement Officer Allan Ogolla.

"The driver of a Toyota Fielder was overtaking a fleet of vehicles but was caught up before he got back to his lane, colliding head on with a saloon car," said Mr Ogolla.

He explained that after the collision, the driver of the Toyota Fielder lost control of the vehicle and rammed into a trailer, a Mercedes-Benz Actros.

"Unfortunately, five people on board the Toyota Fielder died on the spot. They included two men and two women and an infant," said Ogolla.

The crash caused a traffic snarl as the police cleared traffic building from either sides of the highway.

"We have managed to clear the scene and flow of traffic is back to normal. We call on motorists to exercise extra caution on the roads," said Ogolla.

The accidents come days after the government reiterated its commitment to dual the highway from Rironi in Kiambu County to Mau Summit in Nakuru County to ease flow of traffic.

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, who graced an empowerment forum for the elderly and vulnerable groups in Nakuru East on Sunday, said that the project is at an advanced stage.

"We are committed to ensuring the dualing of the Rironi-Mau Summit Highway with the project set to kick off in September this year. This will reduce traffic and time taken from Nairobi to Nakuru and make the route safer," Kindiki told the attendees of the empowerment forum hosted at Nakuru Boys High School.

The Nairobi-Nakuru Highway is listed as one of the dangerous routes due to recurring road accidents at notorious black spots, most of which are blamed on drivers' error and road design.