At least 11 students from Kenyatta University died Monday night in a grisly road accident involving their school bus and a trailer.
The Voi sub-County Police Commander Ibrahim Daffala confirmed the tragic accident saying 10 students died on the spot, one died in hospital while two others sustained life-threatening injuries.
A total of 42 students were evacuated from the scene with serious injuries while another four had slight wounds.
“The accident occurred at a time when it was raining heavily. The lorry tried to move away from the road to avoid a head-on collision leading to the accident,” Daffala stated.
Ghastly photos shared on social media indicate the bus was hit on the left side.
The accident is said to have occured in Maungu, Voi, in Taita Taveta County, along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway.
The school bus was carrying public health students who were heading to Mombasa for an academic trip.
The trailer was heading to Nairobi at the time the accident occurred.
The school bus was carrying 58 passengers.
Four students escaped unhurt. They were taken to Maungu Police Station awaiting further processing.
Tens of occupants of the ill-fated bus who were injured were rushed to the Moi County Referral Hospital in Voi.
Despite the foul weather a multidisciplinary team of first responders immediately arrived on the scene to help in the evacuation.
Daffala advised drivers using the busy Mombasa- Nairobi highway to exercise caution as heavy rain pound the area between Voi and Samburu.
In related news, at least five 5 people died on Monday in a road accident along Olonguruone-Silibwet Road in Bomet County.
The accident involving a matatu and a tractor left 18 injured.
“It happened that the driver was driving his motor vehicle from Olenguruone heading towards Bomet general direction and on reaching the location of the accident, the driver of the matatu failed to keep to his proper lane and rammed on the tractor,” police report seen by the Star read.
The 18 injured people were admitted to Tenwek Mission Hospital.
The vehicle and tractor were towed to Bomet Police Station for further police action.
Since January to February 2024, road accidents across the country have claimed 649 lives, the National Transport and Safety Authority said.
The statistics are an increase compared to the 623 recorded during the same period in 2023.
Pedestrians lead in fatalities at 252, compared with 190 recorded last year.
Motorcyclists recorded 152 deaths marking a slight decrease compared to 177 in 2023.
In 2024, at least 125 passengers have lost their lives in road crashes compared to 114 in 2023.
Some 43 drivers have lost their lives in road accidents. This is a decrease compared to 59 in the same period last year.
Pillion passengers recorded 61 deaths compared to 71 witnessed last year.
This year, only 10 pedal cyclists have died from an accident within the period under review compared to 12 recorded in 2023.
A 2023 report by NTSA showed that losing control was one of the main causes of road crashes, accounting for 929 deaths.
Cause not traced accounted for 575 road deaths followed by lane indiscipline at 491.
Overtaking improperly led to 443 accidents while misjudging clearance, distance, or speed resulted in 310 deaths.
Inappropriate speed accounted for 274 road crashes, and other apparent errors of judgment or negligence accounted for 219 deaths.
Also, stepping, walking, or running off the footpath or verge onto the road resulted in 121 deaths while crossing roads not masked by stationary vehicles accounted for 73 deaths.
Turning without due care accounted for 84 deaths, swerving had 58, walking or standing on the road had 60 and brake failure resulted in 45 deaths
In the same report, Saturdays were the most dangerous day of the week to travel in Kenya in 2023.
780 lives were lost through road crashes which was a decrease compared to 819 in 2022.
Sunday followed by 778 deaths compared to 896 in 2022.
Mondays had 566 fatalities, Tuesdays (469), Wednesdays (521), Thursdays (531) and Fridays 645.
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