Grief filled St Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church in Mikindani, Mombasa County, on Thursday as families, parishioners and neighbours gathered for a requiem Mass to farewell 17 pilgrims killed on the road to prayer.
Requiem Mass at St Mathias Mulumba
The service, led by Coadjutor Archbishop Dominic Kimengich of the Archdiocese of Mombasa, drew more than 3,000 mourners onto the parish grounds. Tents replaced the usual football matches.
Portraits of the dead stood at the foot of the altar while relatives arrived with flowers and photographs. Many broke down as hymns replaced the ordinary noise of the compound.
The journey to Subukia and the Mlima Kiu crash
The 17 — parishioners of St Mathias Mulumba and their driver — had left Mombasa in a Toyota Hiace matatu bound for the Subukia National Marian Shrine in Nakuru County. They were travelling for the annual National Prayer Day.
In the early hours of Saturday, 3 October 2026, the journey ended at Mlima Kiu near Salama in Makueni County, along the Nairobi–Mombasa Highway.
Police and a preliminary report described a multi-vehicle collision shortly after midnight, around 12:10 a.m. A truck travelling towards Mombasa lost lane discipline while overtaking a line of vehicles on a curved, descending stretch of road with poor visibility.
It struck other vehicles, then collided with the matatu carrying the pilgrims. The matatu driver and passengers died at the scene, along with the truck driver and others, bringing the death toll to 17.
Several more people were injured and taken to Sultan Hamud Sub-County Hospital. The National Transport and Safety Authority later warned drivers against dangerous overtaking and described the stretch as a blackspot.
Archbishop Kimengich’s message of consolation
Archbishop Kimengich told the congregation the dead had not been tourists. “They did not die on their way to Subukia as tourists.
They were pilgrims. They thirsted to know God more,” he said.
He added that their journey was not in vain: “We believe they are in heaven, tasting the joy of the heavens. Every soul shall make that journey.”
Dean of the West Deanery Sylvanus Kizito noted the reversal of expectation. The pilgrims would have returned with testimonies of Subukia; instead, the living were left to speak of how they had lived.
A family representative, Joseph Mwanthi, said the deaths were a heavy blow to the Mikindani Christian community, yet the families accepted God’s will and thanked those who had stood with them.
Community support and calls for road safety
Leaders from other denominations joined the Mass. Bishop Lambert Mbella of the Redeemed Gospel Church said the loss cut across the closely knit Mikindani community and that faith, like death, unites people in shared grief.
Political leaders also attended. Jomvu MP Badi Twalib urged drivers to exercise caution and called for emergency centres at known blackspots, attributing the loss to reckless driving.
Mombasa Woman Representative Zamzam Mohamed called for separate routes for heavy trucks. Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir pledged county support to the bereaved.
President William Ruto had earlier released Sh12.5 million towards burial arrangements; the area MP said the sum would be shared among the families.
Names of the dead and burial arrangements
The Archdiocese named the dead as Janet Miito, Florence Atieno, Jane Mwakamba, Josephat Mekonge, Hilkah Orina, Linah Akinyi, Veronicah Musyimi, Martha Nzyoki, Ann Mwanthi, Sarapia Mwarimbo, Scholastica Ochieng, Catherine Joseph, Beatrice Oluoch, Veronica Ngandi, Regina Mwai, Samuel Muigai and driver Samuel Mwanyasi, who was Anglican. Burials were expected in different counties, including Kisii, Migori and Taita-Taveta.
Plans to redesign sections of the highway
Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir said the Kenya National Highways Authority had completed designs to redesign and dual sections of the highway, and that the remaining task was budgetary provision. Inside the Mikindani church on Thursday, however, the emphasis remained on the lives cut short on a journey of faith, and on the consolation the community sought in shared prayer.