At least 17, most of them Catholic pilgrims, killed in a road crash on a highway in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya -- A crash involving multiple vehicles on the highway to the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on Saturday killed 17 people, most of them pilgrims on the way to a prayer site, officials said.

The crash in the Salama area happened after midnight when a truck driver tried and failed to overtake another truck, police said. That caused a collision with vehicles including a van carrying pilgrims, police said.

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 the Kenyan capital 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.”

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

Kenya's National Transport and Safety Authority called upon all motorists to exercise extreme caution, avoid dangerous overtaking and strictly observe lane discipline. The government agency said the stretch where the crash happened was a so-called “black spot" and that recommendations to address the safety concerns had been made.