Officers drawn from the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) have been left with serious injuries after a truck they were traveling in veered off the road and landed in a ditch n Soilo area on Friday, September 23.
The 10 KDF soldiers were traveling along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, heading to the Embakasi Military School in Nairobi from Eldoret when the accident occurred.
The accident has claimed the life of one person, with others nursing injuries. Preliminary reports indicated that the driver lost control and drove into a ditch after the truck’s brakes system reportedly failed.
Nakuru County Police Commander Peter Mwanzo, confirmed the accident stating that the injured soldiers were rushed to nearby health facilities. According to Mwanzo, some of the injured KDF soldiers were stabilized while others were airlifted to Nairobi.
KDF Truck in a ditch after veering off the road on Friday September 23, 2022.
“A truck ferrying members of the KDF from Eldoret to Embakasi, Nairobi has been involved in an accident. Unfortunately, we lost one while receiving treatment at the Rift Valley General Hospital,” Mwanzo stated.
“Ten members of KDF were first attended to at the Nakuru Hospital. The majority have already been airlifted to Nairobi for further treatment,” he added.
Previous accidents involving KDF personnel
The incident comes just months after another military officer died after the car he was traveling in overturned in Murang’a County. Detectives launched investigations into the case with preliminary reports alleging that the KDF officers were trafficking seven foreigners across the country.
“The driver was a soldier in active service and on pass leave. We have reported the matter to the Department of Defence (DOD) as we gather more details on the aliens,” Murang’a South Police boss, Alexander Shikondi stated.
“We are interested to know how the vehicle that ordinarily would be transporting aliens to Nairobi was involved in the accident while heading in the opposite direction of Sagana,” he added.
In June 2021, a KDF helicopter crashed in Kajiado and left 10 dead and 13 nursing injuries.
The incident, and more that have followed, have called the scrutiny, the safety of transport equipment in use by the KDF and their safety standards.
