Family loses fourth member as Mau Summit crash death toll rises to seven
National
By
Stephen Rutto
| Sep 12, 2026
The death toll in the September 5 tragic road crash in Mau Summit along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway has risen to seven after one more person died this morning, just hours after a mother and daughter who perished in the 3am carnage were buried in Elgeyo Marakwet.
Eunice Tanui and her daughter Gloria Jerotich as well as Pastor Mathew Kiprono were laid to rest in an emotional send-off in Kipsero near Kapcherop town on Friday.
They perished while returning home from a colourful graduation ceremony of their son Willy Kipchumba at the Administration Police Training College in Embakasi, Nairobi.
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However, the family received the devastating news of the loss of their third member – Newton Kipkorir, who was among eight people who sustained injuries during the accident where their 14-seater matatu rammed into a track at Twin Bridge, Mau Summit.
A devastated Kipchumba had told mourners in Kipsero on Friday that he felt that he caused the deaths of his relatives since they attended his graduation ceremony.
“I’m so much pain and keep blaming myself. It was because of my graduation ceremony that I lost my mother and sister and neighbours. I don’t know how to explain this,” the emotional police service recruit said at the burial of his mother, sister and their pastor.
But as Kipchumba struggled to come to terms with the loss of his mother and sister, the family received the news of the death of Kipkorir, who was battling for his life in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Nairobi.
“We had hopes that my brother would recover. I’ve no strength,” he said after learning of Kipkorir’s death yesterday morning.
One more injured person died in an Eldoret hospital just hours after the accident.
Calls for families attending graduation ceremonies to hire an additional driver dominated joint funerals on Friday.
Their Kapsowar Shuttle Sacco rammed into a lorry at Mau Summit as they headed back to Kapcherop, Marakwet West after celebrating the graduation of the late Ms Tanui’s son Kipchumba at the Administration Police Training College in Embakasi, Nairobi.
While paying their tributes during the Friday joint burial, locals and leaders said the accident was caused by a human error and called for extra drivers during long journeys to for graduations and other ceremonies.
Collins Kiprono, a neighbour to the victims urged locals to set aside extra money for a reliever driver during long trips to graduation feats.
Kiprono said drivers taking families to graduation ceremonies were driving for many hours without resting and sleeping, leading to fatigue and accidents.
“I encourage families to seek assistance whenever they plan to travel long distances to celebrate their sons and daughters. It will be better for us to have extra money for an additional driver than to lose lives when a single chauffer feels fatigued along the way,” Kiprono said.
Elgeyo Marakwet woman representative Caroline Ng’elechei called for drivers who understand accident hotspots along the routes to their destinations.
Ng’elechei told mourners to ask their drivers to take rests during long travels.
“Most accidents are because of human errors. Most fatal accidents happen at night and we will not lose anything if we ask our drivers to rest until the breaks so that we continue with our journey,” the MP said.
Her Kapseret counterpart Oscar Sudi, who is a relative to the family that has lost three members, said completion of the dualling of the Rironi-Mau Summit road will reduce accidents along the busy Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret-Malaba highway.