NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 18 – A series of devastating road accidents have rocked Kenya, claiming the lives of several individuals and leaving many others injured.
In the latest incident, at least eleven people, many of them students from Kenyatta University, lost their lives in a collision involving their bus and a trailer in Maungu on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway on Monday night.
The students were heading to Mombasa on a trip from Nairobi.
42 others sustained injuries, with some in critical condition.
The Kenya Red Cross said victims were taken to Moi Hospital in Voi for urgent medical care.
“The driver of the bus was overtaking a fleet of vehicles and it was raining heavily,” police said, “the bus swerved to the right side of the road to avoid hitting the lorry which hit one side and ripped it off.”
Ten students died on the spot while another ws pronounced dead in hospital.
“We are actively responding to a road traffic incident involving a bus that collided with a trailer at Manyatta, past Maungu in Voi Sub-County,” stated the Kenya Red Cross in their official statement.
The incident follows another fatal accident earlier in the day in Bomet, where five people died and 18 others were injured when a passenger van collided with a tractor. These accidents underscore the alarming trend of road accidents plaguing Kenyan roads in recent times.
Just days before, on Saturday, a bus carrying students from Kapsabet Boys High School lost control and rolled over, resulting in the deaths of a teacher and a student. The tragedies have raised serious concerns about road safety and the need for enhanced measures to prevent further loss of life on Kenyan roads.
Police statistics show that at least 4,000 people die in road accidents annually.
