Five die in grisly road accident

Five people were killed Wednesday evening after a truck hit a motorcyclist then crashed into pedestrians at Matayos Market in Busia County.

The truck lost control while trying to avoid hitting the motorcycle before it careened into the market, killing two pedestrians.

Two of the victims died on the spot while three others succumbed to their injuries at Busia Hospital, where they were rushed by St John Ambulance.

This comes barely a week after the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) reported that fatalities caused by private cars have risen while those caused by public services vehicles have reduced.

According to the NTSA, private cars come in the first place in causing deaths and accidents followed by commercial vehicles while public vehicles come third.

Speaking in Meru during the validation and repair of speed governors installed in Public Service Vehicles (PSV), NTSA Director of Motor Vehicle Inspection Gerald Wangai said the department has recorded many accidents which involve private vehicles as compared to public ones.

Wangai said that private vehicles accounted for 34 per cent of all accidents every year followed by heavy commercial vehicles at 24 per cent, PSVs at 21 per cent and motor cycles at 17 per cent.

He pointed out that PSVs were earlier recording higher numbers of accidents but this has reduced significantly after the introduction of speed governors.

He added that NTSA is now working closely with the police to ensure all PSVs have speed governors.