Two people were killed when a passenger van overturned on the Kwale Kinango Road in Matairini, Kwale County, early Monday, according to the police.
The names of those killed were released Monday afternoon. They included the driver, Barrack Mugambi, 22, and one passenger identified as Eristus Karani.
The two suffered various injuries, including severe head trauma for the driver, who was ejected from the van as it rolled several times and a rib fracture for Karani. They were taken to Kwale Sub County Hospital, where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
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Based on statements given by eyewitnesses, the police believe the driver lost control after experiencing a tyre burst while speeding on the highway.
“It happened that the motor vehicle was being driven from Kwale towards Kombani general direction and upon reaching the location of the accident, the driver lost proper physical control whereby the car rolled several times,” Kwale County Police Commander Stephen Ng’etich said in a statement.
The van, a Toyota Voxy Wagon, was found overturned beside the road by first responders, who were the locals, who started pulling out the stuck passenger before the police arrived.
The van was transporting muguka within the coastal county, and some neighbourhood residents who joined the rescuers began scrambling for packages of the evergreen shrub that is abused for its stimulant-like effect, which was strewn all over the crash scene.
County official Ronald Chakaya said that following Kwale’s stringent laws under the County Finance Act 2024 to regulate muguka use in the county, many businesspeople have opted to use private vehicles and other means to sneak the crop.
In the new law, muguka transporters using lorries that weigh 15 tonnes and above pay an entry charge of Ksh300,000, and motorcycles pay a fee of Ksh30,000, up from Ksh3,000.
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