A truck driver’s failed attempt to overtake on a dark Kenyan highway turned a midnight pilgrimage into a disaster that left 17 people dead.
Several vehicles collided on a highway leading to Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, killing 17 people, officials said.
Most of the dead were Catholic pilgrims traveling to a shrine for a day of prayer, and the vehicles came together at Salama, in Makueni County, shortly after midnight local time.
The pilgrims belonged to St. Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church and were traveling in the early hours of the morning toward the Subukia National Shrine, set in Kenya’s Rift Valley region, for the National Prayer Day. The shrine draws Catholics from across the country for the annual observance.
The driver of the van carrying the group and 16 passengers, predominantly women, were pronounced dead at the scene. Several other people were injured, local media reported.
The driver of the truck that tried to overtake suffered serious head injuries and was transferred to Makueni Level 6 Hospital, local media reported.
A Deadly Bid to Pass
A truck driver tried to pass another truck and could not complete the maneuver, according to the police account of the crash. The pilgrims’ van was caught up in the resulting collision, police said.
The Kenya National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) sent a multidisciplinary crash investigation team to Salama to establish the full circumstances of the collision, inspect the vehicles involved and check compliance. The team is supporting the National Police Service.
A Stretch Already Marked as Deadly
The stretch of highway between Mlima Kiu and Salama had been flagged as a black spot for traffic collisions, the NTSA said, and the authority had already made recommendations on safety concerns along that corridor before the Oct. 3 crash. The authority did not say what became of those recommendations.
The NTSA appealed to motorists on the highway to exercise extreme caution while the investigation continues, to avoid dangerous overtaking maneuvers and to observe lane discipline strictly.
Kenya recorded 5,009 road traffic deaths last year and 2,150 in the first six months of 2026, Al Jazeera reported, citing NTSA figures.
A Parish Says Goodbye
Authorities have identified all 17 victims since the crash, and postmortem examinations were carried out at Sultan Hamud Hospital.
The archdiocese held a joint requiem Mass at the St. Mathias Mulumba parish in Mikindani on Thursday, Oct. 8. Nine of the bodies were taken to Mombasa, and families took the other eight to their home areas, according to ACI Africa.
“We believe they are in heaven, tasting the joy of the heavens,” Coadjutor Archbishop Dominic Kimengich said at the requiem Mass.
Area lawmaker Badi Twalib said each bereaved family would receive a share of 12.5 million Kenyan shillings (about $96,400) provided by the state, The Star reported on Friday, Oct. 9.
Grief Reaches the President
Martin Kivuva, archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa, confirmed the deaths in a statement released Saturday, Oct. 3.
“We are saddened with lots of grief to announce the untimely passing on of seventeen (17) pilgrims,” Kivuva said. He said the victims had been heading to the Subukia National Shrine for the National Prayer Day, and he asked the faithful to pray for the dead, their families, the St. Mathias Mulumba parish and the archdiocese, for comfort in the Lord.
Kenyan President William Ruto offered his sympathies to the families, friends and fellow parishioners of the dead, and to the wider Catholic community. He pointed to the loss of the 17 pilgrims from St. Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church and added his wish that the souls of those who died rest in eternal peace.
The NTSA investigation is continuing, and no cause has been announced beyond the police account of the failed overtaking.
