Nakuru — All the 14 people who died in the Sunday, September 28 accident at Kariandusi along the Nakuru-Nairobi Highway were members of the same extended family.
Four others remain hospitalised in critical condition at various public and private facilities in Nakuru City and Gilgil Sub-County.
Family Spokesperson Patrick Mburu said the dead included his parents, sisters, cousins, nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts, and a brother-in-law.
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Among them were his father, Elijah Mburu, his mother, Lydia Njeri, and his sisters Naomi Wangui, Loise Wambui, Pauline Muthoni, and Catherine Njambi.
Also killed were his cousin Beatrice Waithera Karanja, her husband Nahason Kanja, and their daughter only identified as Chiru.
The matatu driver, Elijah Mburu--named after the family's patriarch--also perished, alongside two aunts, Grace Waithera and Eunice, among others.
Mburu said the relatives were on their way to Solai in Rongai Sub-County for a family gathering when the accident occurred.
"The first to [be] picked at 6.30 am were my parents and a sister at our home in Kahiga village, Kandara Sub-County, Murang'a," he recalled.
Family gathering
The group later collected uncles and aunts in Kangi before heading to Nairobi's Kasarani and Dandora estates to pick more relatives.
"They left Nairobi at 7am, with the last pick-up point [being] Naivasha," said a distraught Mburu.
He narrated how he received news of the crash from his brother, Michael Mburu, and rushed to Gilgil Sub-County Hospital Mortuary.
"I identified all the 14 bodies. It was a heartbreaking scene--people who had left home hopeful, upbeat, and ready for a happy family get-together," he said.
Mburu appealed to the government and well-wishers to support the family with hospital bills and burial expenses.
"Burying 14 relatives is too heavy for us. They died many kilometres from home, and we need funds for post-mortems and transportation," he said, adding that leaders in Murang'a had already arranged counselling services for grieving family members.
The 14 died when the 14-seater matatu they were travelling in collided head-on with a long-distance truck at Kariandusi.
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Gilgil Sub-County Police Commander Winston Wakio said preliminary investigations showed the matatu driver was overtaking but failed to return to his lane in time, causing the crash.
