Japan-based long-distance runner Jefferson Siekei has been killed in a road accident in his native Kenya, the Hitachi Cable athletics team said late Monday. He was 25.
Siekei was riding a motorcycle on his way to a competition when he crashed head-on with a truck. The accident took place on Feb. 6, according to the Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation.
He had temporarily returned to Kenya since early February for training.
Siekei joined the Japanese corporate team in 2007 and made strong runs in events such as the national corporate ekiden road relay.
On Feb. 9, Yamanashi Gakuin University senior Mekubo Mogusu, also a Japan-based Kenyan runner, suffered minor injuries in a car accident in Kenya.