Seventeen people were killed and six others injured early Saturday after a 14-seater matatu carrying Catholic pilgrims was involved in a grisly multi-vehicle accident at Salama along the Mombasa-Nairobi Highway.
Makueni County Commissioner Abdullahi Khalif confirmed that the 17 people who died were passengers in the matatu, which was travelling towards Nairobi when the accident occurred at about 1 am.
The victims were parishioners of St Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church in Mikindani, Mombasa, and were travelling to the National Shrine of Subukia in Nakuru County for prayers.
The Catholic Church confirmed the deaths, describing the incident as a major loss to the Mombasa Catholic community.
“We are saddened and grief-stricken to announce the untimely passing of seventeen pilgrims from St Mathias Mulumba, Mikindani, in an accident that occurred at Salama,” Mombasa Archbishop Martin Kivuva Musonde said in a statement.
The archbishop said the pilgrims were travelling to Subukia for the National Prayer Day when the accident occurred.
According to witnesses, the matatu was caught up in a chain collision involving two trucks.
A police source told RonnyTV that one of the trucks, which was travelling towards Mombasa, rammed into the matatu after being hit from behind by another truck.
The impact left several people dead and others injured, prompting emergency responders and medical teams to rush to the scene and nearby health facilities.
Six survivors who sustained minor injuries were treated and later discharged from Sultan Hamud Sub-County Referral Hospital, according to the facility’s medical superintendent, Stephen Mwangangi.
“The six survivors sustained minor injuries and have been discharged,” Mwangangi said.
However, the driver of one of the trucks sustained serious head and abdominal injuries and was referred to Makueni County Referral Hospital for further treatment.
The accident has renewed concerns over road safety along the busy Mombasa-Nairobi Highway, one of Kenya’s major transport corridors, which carries heavy commercial traffic alongside passenger vehicles.
Authorities are expected to investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash, including the sequence of collisions involving the two trucks and the matatu.
The deaths have also cast a shadow over the planned pilgrimage to Subukia, with the Catholic community in Mombasa mourning the 17 parishioners who lost their lives while travelling for prayers.
