The multi-vehicle crash occurred in the Salama area, 90km southeast of Nairobi, killing mostly Catholic pilgrims.

At least 17 people, most of them Catholic pilgrims on the way to a prayer site, have been killed in a crash involving multiple vehicles on the highway to the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.

The crash in the Salama area, about 90 kilometres (about 55 miles) southeast of the capital Nairobi, happened after midnight, police said on Saturday.

The crash occurred when a truck driver tried and failed to overtake another truck; that caused a collision with vehicles including a van carrying pilgrims, police said.

Kenyan media reported that the pilgrims were travelling in a 14-seater minibus.

The van’s driver and 16 passengers, most of them women, died at the scene, police said.

The pilgrims were going to a prayer site in Nakuru County, west of Nairobi, said Martin Kivuva, archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa.

The archbishop said in a statement that he and others were “saddened with lots of grief” over the deaths.

President William Ruto offered condolences to the families, friends, parishioners and the entire Catholic community “who are mourning this painful loss”.

Kenya’s National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) launched an investigation into the crash.

The NTSA said it dispatched investigators “to establish the full circumstances leading to the collision”.

But it noted that the stretch of road where the crash occurred is a known “black spot” and that “recommendations have been made to address safety concerns” regarding the route.

Road accidents are a problem across Africa. In Kenya and elsewhere in the region, the accidents are often blamed on poorly maintained vehicles, excess speed and poor road conditions.

Kenya recorded 5,009 road traffic deaths last year, while 2,150 deaths were reported in the first six months of 2026, local media reported, citing numbers from the NTSA.