NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 4 – The Archdiocese of Mombasa has held special prayers for 17 pilgrims from St Mathias Mulumba Parish who were killed in a road accident along the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway early Saturday.
The pilgrims were travelling from Mikindani, Mombasa, to the National Shrine in Subukia, Nakuru County, for the annual Catholic National Prayer Day when the crash occurred at Mlima Kiu in the Salama area.
Police said the accident happened at about 12:10 a.m. after a truck travelling towards Mombasa attempted to overtake a line of vehicles and clipped the rear right side of another truck travelling in the same direction.
The impact caused the truck to lose control before it sideswiped two vehicles travelling in the opposite direction towards Nairobi.
It then veered into the climbing lane and collided head-on with a minibus carrying 12 passengers. The minibus driver and all 12 passengers died at the scene.
The truck eventually came to a stop after colliding with another truck travelling towards Nairobi.
Archbishop Martin Kivuva of the Archdiocese of Mombasa confirmed the deaths, saying the pilgrims had been travelling to Subukia for the national prayers.
“We are saddened with lots of grief to announce the untimely passing on of seventeen (17) pilgrims from St. Mathias Mulumba, Mikindani, in an accident that occurred at Salama.”
“The pilgrims were on their way to the National Shrine, Subukia, for the National Prayer Day (NPD),” he said.
The crash adds to concerns over road safety along the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway, one of Kenya’s busiest transport corridors.
Road accidents remain a major cause of deaths in the country, with the National Transport and Safety Authority estimating that about 4,000 people die on Kenyan roads annually.
Authorities have attributed road crashes to factors including speeding, dangerous overtaking, drunk driving and other forms of reckless driving, despite continued road-safety campaigns.
