Former Kenyan athlete Lelei killed in car accident

Former Kenyan middle-distance runner David Lelei has been killed in a car accident in which compatriot and former 10,000 metres world champion Moses Tanui suffered chest injuries.

According to former world marathon record holder Paul Tergat, Lelei, 39 and Tanui, 45, were driving from Nairobi to their homes in Eldoret on Wednesday when they hit an oncoming lorry a few kilometres outside Nakuru, Kenya''s fourth biggest town some 200km west of Nairobi.

"They had attended a function in Nairobi and they were travelling back to Eldoret when this accident occurred.

Unfortunately, we lost Lelei, but Tanui is out of danger and was transferred to Nairobi Hospital," Tergat said in Nakuru. 

Lelei won a 1,500m silver medal at the 1999 All African Games in Johannesburg, the same year as he finished seventh over the same distance at the world championships in Seville. He was fourth in the 800m at the 2001 World Indoor Championships in Lisbon.

Tanui won the world 10,000 title in 1991 in Tokyo. He also won the Boston marathon in 1996 and 1998.