Spot where tragic Naivasha accident took place lacks adequate signage – PS

Transport Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera has admitted that the spot where the tragic accident at Karai along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway took place does not have adequate signage.

The PS also noted that there needs to be an audit of the design of the bumps that were erected at the spot earlier this year, saying they need to be sure whether there is a better way of doing it.

“What we are looking at is the design of the bumps to see whether there is a better way of doing it, maybe they’re too sharp,” he said.

Speaking to the press at Harambee House in Nairobi on Sunday, PS Nyakera, however, defended the decision to erect the bumps at the spot saying they were erected at the request of locals in the area who complained of a number of accidents caused by speeding vehicles.

“The residents of that area said it was either we put the bumps as a government or they will put them themselves,” he said.

He also noted that before one gets to the bumps there are rubble strips to alert the driver that there are bumps ahead.

Speaking at the same press conference, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery clarified that the accident resulted in 33 deaths, not 40 as earlier reported in sections of the media, including on this website.

According to the CS, six people were injured in the tragic crash, two of them were treated and discharged while four were transferred to Nairobi for treatment. Of the four three are at the Kenyatta National Hospital while one is admitted at Nairobi Hospital, all with serious burns.

He clarified that the accident was caused by a light lorry, a Canter, that was ferrying flammable materials. He said the Canter that was headed towards Nakuru hit a bump and lost control, ramming into cars that were headed towards Nairobi before exploding.

PS Nyakera noted that the Canter had not broken any rules by being on that road, noting that it was the fuel tankers that are required to use the Mai Mahiu road.

“It was a light truck. Only fuel trucks are required to use the Mai Mahui road,” he noted.

CS Nkaiserry called on Kenyans to be sensitive to the feelings of the families of the victims of the tragedy, with Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Abbas Gullet lauding the government for the response to the tragedy.