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Seventeen people, most of them Catholic pilgrims, were killed in a multi-vehicle crash on a highway leading to Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa, authorities said.
The crash occurred in the Salama area of Makueni County after midnight Saturday when a truck driver attempted to overtake another truck but failed, according to police.
The manoeuvre triggered a collision involving several vehicles, including a van carrying pilgrims.
The van’s driver and all 16 passengers were killed at the scene. Most of the passengers were women, police said.
The pilgrims were travelling to a prayer site in Nakuru County, west of the capital, Nairobi, according to Martin Kivuva, archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa.
The archbishop expressed deep sorrow over the deaths, while President William Ruto conveyed condolences to the victims’ families, friends, fellow parishioners and the wider Catholic community.
Kenya, like several other African countries, continues to face serious road-safety challenges. Authorities have frequently linked deadly crashes to speeding, dangerous overtaking, poorly maintained vehicles and inadequate road conditions.
The National Transport and Safety Authority urged motorists to exercise extreme caution, avoid dangerous overtaking and maintain lane discipline.
The agency said the section of road where Saturday’s crash occurred had been identified as a “black spot” and that recommendations had previously been made to address safety concerns.