Kenya: 41 Dead After Bus Crash Along Nairobi-Narok Highway

Kenya: 41 Dead After Bus Crash Along Nairobi-Narok Highway
(Kenya Red Cross)
Zachary Stieber
8/29/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

UPDATE: A traffic commandant coordinating the rescue, Samuel Kimaru, told the Standard Digital the driver of the bus crash that killed 41 people Thursday may have been asleep at the wheel. 

“From our investigations, the driver did not even attempt to brake or negotiate the corner. He seemed to have slept,” Kimaru said. 

“I am lost for words. This is horrific,” Kimaru said as dozens of bodies lay a short distance from where he stood. “This is the highest death toll in our roads this year.”

Original article:

At least 41 people are dead after a bus crash along the Nairobi-Narok Highway in Kenya.

Police officers at the scene told the Standard Digital that the bus crashed around 2 a.m. on Thursday morning while headed to Homabay.

The number of dead increased from 31 to 41 as dozens of others were taken to hospitals in nearby Narok and Kjabe. The Kenyan Red Cross relayed the latest update.

 

The dead include 33 adults and four children. Bodies continue being pulled from the wreckage, which rescue crews continue working on.

Traffic Police Commandant Samuel Kimaru told Capital FM News said it appears the bus driver lost control of the bus, which rolled down a valley, hitting trees and stones before landing on its roof.

“The driver lost control of the bus causing it to roll several times,” he said. “We are at the scene now and it is quite disturbing.”

It’s not clear yet whether the driver survived the crash. 

Jacob Kurgat, who lives close to the scene of the accident, said he heard a loud bang at around 2 a.m. and screams of people calling for help.

A police officer who didn’t want to be named said the bus was new in the area.

“The driver must have been speeding and given he was new on this road failed to negotiate the bend thus could not control the bus,” said the officer.

A nurse at the district hospital raced to help the injured. “We cannot talk now, we want to save lives,” he said. 

The accident is about 9 miles from Narok.

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