Three people died Monday morning in an accident that involved two matatus in the Wanjii area along the Murang’a-Nairobi road.

According to preliminary findings, a matatu belonging to Nakonns Sacco, which was heading towards Murang’a town plunged into River Maragua after hitting another matatu belonging to Murang’a Shuttle Sacco.

During the 6.20am incident, 24 passengers who were onboard the two PSV vehicles sustained serious injuries and were rushed to Murang’a Level 5 hospital for treatment.

Confirming the incident, Murang’a North Traffic Base Commander Kennedy Muthamia said two women passengers died on the spot while the third victim, a male passenger, succumbed to his injuries before he could get to hospital.

“Majority of passengers, especially those who were in the Nakonns Sacco matatu, were seriously injured and we are still following up to establish their condition after they were taken to hospital.

 “The Murang’a Shuttle matatu was heading to  Nairobi while the Nakonns matatu was traveling to Othaya in Nyeri. The driver of the Nakonns matatu was unable to negotiate a bend on the road due to speeding and hit the Murang’a Shuttle from the side. The Nakonns matatu driver lost control and the vehicle plunged into the river,” added Muthamia.

 A boda boda operator, Jefferson Murimi, said the accident was caused by overspeeding, especially at the corner.

“It seems the driver was unable to control the vehicle at the corner due to speeding which led him to hitting the oncoming matatu. KeNHA needs to consider erecting speed bumps at this section of the road,” added Murimi.

Murang’a Shuttle stage attendant Esther Njeri said their PSV matatu departed from the stage at 6am and had 14 passengers on board.

She noted their matatu overturned on the road after it was hit by the speeding vehicle and asked the government to enforce the requirement of having speed governors installed in all public service vehicles.