When pilgrimage turns into tragedy, revisiting past cases
They leave home carrying faith, rosaries and songs of praise. But for some pilgrims travelling to shrines and prayer gatherings across East Africa, the journey has ended in tragedy.
In the early hours, pilgrims gather their belongings, say goodbye to their families and set off for a place they believe will bring them closer to God. Some board buses. Others walk, sometimes for hundreds of kilometres along highways.
They carry rosaries around their wrists, crosses around their necks and, in some cases, little more than water and food for the journey. For them, the destination is sacred.
12 of the 17 pilgrims killed in a horrific multi-vehicle highway collision(from left): Florence Atieno, Hilcah Orina, Regina Mwai, Martha Nzyoki, Janet Miito, Veronicah Musyimi, Samuel Muigai, Veronica Ngandi, Scholastica Ochieng, Catherine Joseph, Ann Mwanthi and Josephat Mekonge.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit| NMG
But for an increasing number of families, the journey has acquired another meaning: the moment a loved one left home and never returned.
In 2024, five people were killed and nine others injured in a road crash at Mahiga Meeru along the Nyahururu-Nyeri Road.
The victims, including the driver and women from St Peter’s Gaitega of the Cathedral Parish in the Catholic Diocese of Murang’a, were returning home after attending a National Prayer Meeting at Subukia’s Marian Shrine, where thousands of Catholic Women Association (CWA) members had gathered.
Perhaps nowhere is this contradiction more evident than on the pilgrimage route between Kenya and Uganda. Every year, thousands of Catholic faithful travel towards the Uganda Martyrs Shrine at Namugongo for the annual Uganda Martyrs Day celebrations.
For some, the pilgrimage is made on foot. The journey is physically demanding. Pilgrims walk for days, crossing the border and sharing roads with trucks, buses and motorcycles.
In May 2024, Kenyan pilgrim Joseph Chepkurui Sinon was walking towards Namugongo when he collapsed and died. He had travelled about 300 kilometres before reaching the Uganda border. His death was not the first.
Grieving families and relatives gathered at St Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church in the Mikindani parish in Mombasa. Seventeen pilgrims died in a road accident at Salama while travelling to Subukia.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation
Four Kenyan pilgrims — Geoffrey Obanga Ashiuma, Roselyne Wanjala, Sarah Adhiambo Ouko and Evelyne Madinde — were killed on the Iganga-Jinja highway while walking towards Namugongo in 2019. They were part of a larger group of Kenyan pilgrims making the journey. A vehicle struck them during heavy rain. The tragedy prompted renewed concern over the safety of pilgrims walking long distances on major highways.
More than two decades earlier, in 1998, Kenyan pilgrim John Kibe was killed in Mabira Forest while walking to the shrine. The cases reveal a grim pattern: the pilgrimage does not necessarily become dangerous at the shrine. Sometimes the greatest danger is on the road leading there.
Some pilgrims have been victims of road crashes. Others have succumbed to illness or medical emergencies during the journeys. In Uganda, pilgrim Joventa Tukahiirwa died in 2022 after being hit by a car on her way to Namugongo.
Grieving families and relatives gather at St Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church, Mikindani Parish, Mombasa on October 3, 2026, to mourn the 17 pilgrims who died in the Salama crash on Friday night.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
In 2023, Margaret Namatovu died after being hit by a car while heading to the shrine. In 2024, Ugandan pilgrim Ronald Ojok died after becoming seriously ill at a pilgrims’ camp.
The phenomenon is not confined to the Kenya-Uganda pilgrimage corridor. Across East Africa, religious gatherings attract many worshippers who travel considerable distances to churches, shrines, monasteries and prayer sites.
Some journeys are organised pilgrimages. Others are informal journeys by individuals or small groups.
Grieving families and relatives gathered at St Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church in the Mikindani parish in Mombasa. Seventeen pilgrims died in a road accident at Salama while travelling to Subukia.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation
And occasionally, tragedy strikes not on the road but at the destination itself.
Two deadly incidents have struck religious gatherings in Ethiopia within a year. In August 2026, a landslide hit worshippers at Tsadqane Debre Mitmaq St Mary Monastery during a spiritual-cleansing and holy-water ritual, killing at least 14 people and injuring seven, with others initially reported missing.
Just months earlier, in October 2025, a temporary scaffolding structure collapsed at Arerti St Mary’s Church during a religious festival packed with pilgrims. At least 36 people died and more than 200 were injured.
The cases are different, but they share one feature: people who had set out with a religious purpose did not reach the end of their journey.
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