president Kenyatta and First Lady Margret Kenyatta /File Photo
BY KORIR JUMA ,NAIROBI 12TH DEC 2016-Security was beefed up Monday at the Nyayo National Stadium In Nairobi as President Uhuru Kenyatta led the country in marking the 53rd Jamhuri celebrations since independence.Thousands of Kenyans including senior government officials are in attendance.
The day is marked even as the country continues to mourn the loss of 39 lives on Saturday night in an accident at Karai area in Naivasha.
Among the 39 lives lost include 11 officers from the General Service Unit , an elite squad that protects VIPs in the country, including the President.
The officers were on their way back to Nairobi from a 3 day assignment, during President Kenyatta’s tour in the Rift Valley.
The accident occurred when a Ugandan truck carrying inflammable substance hit a bump, then veered off the road and rammed into 13 other vehicles.
It exploded, leading to a fire ball that consumed the vehicles and their occupants.
Among the dead were passengers in a 14-seater Molo Line matatu.
The process of identifying the bodies if those who perished is still ongoing at the Chiromo Mortuary in Nairobi where the relatives of the deceased will identify their loved ones.There are a total of 34 bodies still to be identified after six bodies believed to be those of police officers who died in the accident having been successfully identified on Sunday.