Wamuzi News Ke
Residents of Matunda, Bungoma County, torched a truck on Saturday after it lost control, leading to a tragic accident that claimed five lives on the Kitale-Webuye highway.
According to witnesses, the truck, which was headed from Webuye, suffered brake failure, causing the driver to struggle for control before the vehicle overturned.
Among the victims were two boda boda riders traveling toward Webuye, who died instantly upon impact.
“The truck was moving from Webuye to Kitale when it lost control near the Kiminini Matunda bridge and overturned, killing five people,” a witness recounted.
“It veered into the opposite lane, crashing head-on into two boda boda riders before rolling over,” another bystander added.
Another eyewitness explained, “The brakes failed, and the truck swerved off its path, slamming into the motorcycle riders and water vendors nearby.”
Following the tragedy, angry residents gathered at the scene, demanding the government deploy traffic officers to monitor speeding vehicles at the bridge.
Despite police arriving to restore order, they were unable to prevent the enraged crowd from setting the truck on fire.
This accident echoes past tragedies in the region. In 2020, a trailer lost control at the Webuye-Kaburengu interchange, killing over 10 women selling goods by the roadside.
More recently, on March 4 this year, a devastating crash involving multiple vehicles—including a school bus and a trailer—occurred at Kaburengu in neighboring Kakamega County along the Eldoret-Webuye highway.
Additionally, a separate fatal crash took place at the Kinungi blackspot on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, leaving one person dead and 16 others injured after a pickup collided with a larger truck on Saturday night.
Stephen Musungu
