A truck driver lost control killing 55 people in Kenya
A truck driver lost control of it on a road crowded on both sides with pedestrians and vendors, killing 55 of them by running over the wheels, and injuring dozens of others in Kericho County, in western Kenya, near the largest lake in Africa, Victoria, from which the White Nile River originates.
The truck driver was on his way at 6:30 pm yesterday, Friday, to the city of Kericho, the capital of the province, when he tried to avoid a collision with a bus that appeared to him stopped on the road due to a mechanical failure, so he swerved off the road, but he lost control of it, and it collided with other trucks, as well as dozens of shoppers and sellers. The wanderers, according to what Al-Arabiya.net learned from what was reported by local media, some of whom described the “massacre” as one of the worst in Kenya’s history.
Kenyan President William Ruto took to his Twitter platform after the accident, and wrote a tweet in which he said: “The whole country is in mourning with the families who lost their loved ones in a horrific road accident in Lundyani,” referring to the Lundyani-Krecho road intersection, where the accident that emerged from occurred. Video clips broadcasted by local TV channels, showing how many cars, motorcycles, and minibuses were destroyed, something we see in the video presented above, although the number of victims was only 48, but their number rose to 55 later, according to what was confirmed by several newspapers. Among them is the famous The Star.
As for the wounded, whose first aid efforts were slowed down by heavy rains in the governorate, their number exceeded 30, and they were transferred to different hospitals in 3 neighboring cities, “and the condition of some of them is critical,” according to what eyewitnesses observed, including a driver who said: “I saw a trailer coming at speed, and it swerved.” In the car, I avoided a head-on collision, but the person behind me did not notice and overtook me, so it collided and the trailer swerved off the road and hit other vehicles.” Regional Police Commander Tom Odera said: “I saw about 20 bodies with my own eyes, and there were other bodies under the vehicle,” he said.