Officials said 17 people died, most of them Catholic pilgrims traveling to a shrine for a day of prayer, when several vehicles collided on the highway leading to Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.
Mombasa MP Badi Twalib said the State provided Sh12.5 million for the families of the 17 people killed, with a share for each bereaved family. Twalib spoke at a joint requiem Mass on Thursday, Oct. 8.
Twalib said on the same occasion that the family of the van’s driver had already received its share.
More than 3,000 mourners gathered at the Mikindani Catholic grounds for the Mass. Coadjutor Archbishop Dominic Kimengich told them, “We believe they are now in heaven.”
What Happened at Salama
The crash happened at Salama, in Makueni County, shortly after midnight local time. Officials pronounced the driver of the van carrying the group and 16 passengers, predominantly women, dead at the scene. The group from St. Mathias Mulumba parish was traveling in the early hours of the morning.
Six survivors taken to Sultan Hamud sub-county hospital were discharged on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 3, and the truck driver, who suffered serious head injuries, was transferred to Makueni County Referral Hospital.
Police said the driver of a truck tried to pass another truck and could not complete the maneuver, and the van was caught up in the resulting collision.
The van’s driver was an Anglican. The other 16 dead were parishioners of St. Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church in Mikindani.
Investigation at a Black Spot
The Kenya National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) sent a multidisciplinary crash investigation team to Salama to establish the full circumstances. The team is inspecting the vehicles involved and checking compliance, and it is supporting the National Police Service.
The NTSA said the stretch between Mlima Kiu and Salama had been flagged as a black spot for traffic collisions. The authority said it 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 authority appealed to motorists to exercise extreme caution, avoid dangerous overtaking maneuvers and keep strict lane discipline while the investigation goes on. The NTSA investigation is continuing, and no cause has been announced beyond the police account of the failed overtaking.
Al Jazeera, citing NTSA figures reported by local media, put Kenya’s road traffic deaths at 5,009 in 2025 and 2,150 in the first six months of 2026.
Church and President Respond
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.
Kivuva said the victims were heading to the Subukia National Shrine for the National Prayer Day. He appealed for prayers for the dead, their families, St. Mathias Mulumba parish and the archdiocese, and for comfort in the Lord. The Subukia National Shrine, in Kenya’s Rift Valley region, draws Catholics from across the country for the annual National Prayer Day.
Kenyan President William Ruto sent sympathies to the families, friends and fellow parishioners of the dead and to the wider Catholic community, and he pointed to the loss of the 17 pilgrims from St. Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church. “We stand with them in this difficult moment and pray that God grants them strength, comfort and peace,” Ruto said. He added that he wished the souls of those who died rest in eternal peace.
Vigil and Burials
Authorities have since identified all 17 victims. The bodies were in a bad state when they were retrieved from the crash scene. Postmortem examinations were carried out at Sultan Hamud Hospital.
Nine of the bodies were taken to Mombasa, and families took the other eight to their home areas for burial.
The archdiocese held a candlelit vigil at St. Mathias Mulumba parish in Mikindani on Wednesday, Oct. 7, the day before the joint requiem Mass.
