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Five people have died while 25 others are nursing serious injuries following a grisly road accident involving a 14-seater Matatu and a tractor along Silibwet-Olenguruone Road in Bomet County.
The driver of the matatu,who is said to have been speeding when the accident happened, is among the fatalities.
Eye witnesses said the matatu which was travelling from Olenguruone in Nakuru toward Bomet, lost control and rammed into a tractor that was travelling in the opposite direction.
Mugango Location acting chief Richard Cheruiyot, who was among the first people to arrive at the scene of the accident said they rescued 21 people who had been entangled in the wreckage with good Samaritans rushing them to hospital.
He said two people who were traveling in the tractor also sustained serious injuries.
The 23 people who were rushed at the Tenwek were inside the matatu except 2 who were traveling in the tractor,” said the chief noting that the matatu had 27 passengers which is against the Traffic code.
Besides the excess people who were aboard the ill fated public service vehicle, the chief said it was loaded with 8- 90kg bags of maize. “The vehicle was clearly overloaded. From the number of passengers injured and those who lost their lives the vehicle was carrying double its capacity at the time of the accident,” he said.
Robert Rono a resident of Mungango village said when the driver approached the sloppy section he lost control and hit the on coming tractor. “The Matatu was speeding and as it approached where the accident occurred it lost control and hit the tractor,” Rono added.
He said immediately they swung into action and started rescuing those who had sustained injuries.
