The victims were part of a group travelling to attend the wedding of a fellow teacher’s daughter. Among those who died was Janet Andabwa, the acting headteacher of Chavere Comprehensive School in Matete.
Her husband, Geoffrey Besele, who is also the headteacher of Tande Comprehensive School, said his wife had left home in high spirits after completing the supervision and assessment of the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) examinations.
He said she departed Matete at around 8pm and was picked up by fellow teachers at Kaburengu before proceeding to Nairobi.
Besele recounted that he received the devastating news at around 4am that his wife had been involved in a road accident near Burnt Forest.
Speaking emotionally at Tarakwa Police Station, where the wreckage was towed, he said he was still struggling to come to terms with the loss.
The tragedy has deeply affected the education community in Matete, with several local figures among those who perished.
Other victims included a teacher from St. Mikasa Girls, another teacher from Chavere Comprehensive School, the daughter of a local teacher and a prominent businesswoman from Matete market.
Five survivors were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret, where they were receiving treatment.
Uasin Gishu County Police Commander Wilberforce Sichirani confirmed the accident, saying a heavy lorry transporting cement gravel towards Eldoret veered off the climbing lane and triggered a chain collision.
According to Sichirani, the lorry first collided head-on with a North Rift Shuttle before hitting three other vehicles caught up in the crash.
Among the survivors were three occupants of a Probox and a public service vehicle involved in the pile-up.
The accident has renewed concerns over road safety along the Eldoret–Nakuru highway, following another multi-vehicle crash months earlier at the Mlima Punda black spot that claimed seven lives, including two students travelling home for the holidays.
Residents have called for stricter enforcement of traffic regulations, particularly against heavy commercial vehicles using the busy highway.
Ben Lelei, a resident of Koriomat, described the stretch as a dangerous section of the road, blaming some accidents on reckless driving by transit truck drivers.
He also condemned incidents of theft at the crash scene, saying some people took advantage of the emergency to steal from victims instead of helping rescue survivors.
Lelei said it was distressing that while some residents were trying to save lives, others were allegedly stealing from both the dead and injured.
