A civil society group has raised concern over the increasing number of deaths caused by trailers ferrying sugarcane Joseph Baraza, the assistant chairman of Western Initiative Development, yesterday said the West Kenya Sugar Company owned trailers ferry excess cane and move at alarming speed.

Baraza asked the government to control the amount of cane on the trailers and to check their speed. "In less than five months, 10 youths from Kisoko have lost their lives to trailers which ferry sugarcane from the Busia zone," he said.

He said the youth, who are hired to load and offload the cane, are ferried atop at cane. "Whenever the lorries hit a pothole or brakes suddenly, the boys fall off. A number of them have succumbed to the injuries while several others have been admitted in hospitals with severe injuries," Baraza said.

Baraza was speaking after a lorry transporting cane to West Kenya plunged in to the Lelekwe River on Monday night. One person died on the spot and two others were rushed to hospital with serious injuries.