At least 16 people killed in road accidents in northwest Kenya

At least 16 people were killed in two separate road accidents on Friday night and earlier Saturday, Kenyan police confirmed.

In the first incident, at least seven members of a single family were killed after their car collided with a truck at a black-spot along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway.

Rongai divisional police commander Joseph Mwamburi said on Saturday that the fatal collision occurred at Salgaa area at 2:00 a.m., claiming the lives of a man, his son, daughter, daughter in-law and three grandchildren.

"The accident occurred when the saloon car attempted to overtake the lorry. The seven occupants perished on the spot with the trucks occupants escaping with minor injuries," Mwamburi said.

Nine more passengers perished and five others injured after a Nairobi-bound minibus belonging to Transline burst into flames after colliding head-on with a truck transport sand in Mai Mahiu, about 50 km northwest of Nairobi.

The police said the passenger vehicle from Kisii in Western Kenya went up in flames killing nine people after colliding with the truck which had stalled on the road at around 11:00 p.m. The injured were rushed to the hospital but the driver who was also rescue has gone missing.

Road accidents still continue to occur despite stringent traffic rules which were introduced by the government to help curb road carnage.

An estimated 3,057 Kenyans died in road accidents in 2015 despite concerted efforts by the state and the private sector to promote safety on the highways, according to the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA). Endit