At least 50 killed in dawn accident in Kenya

By Fauxile Kibet

At least 50 people have been killed in a dawn accident in Fort Tenan area, Southern Kenya after a bus lost control and rolled several times.

According to James Mugera, Police commander Kericho County, the bus was heading to Kakamega town, western Kenya from Nairobi and had 61 people on board and that no other vehicle was involved in the tragic accident.

“we cannot as of now say the cause of the accident because we are still conducting investigations but from what we have seen, there are several skid marks, which shows that the driver tried to control the bus but was unable,” Mr Mugera said while speaking to journalists at the scene.

The police boss said that the bus rolled downslope and blew its rood off after the driver was unable to control it in the area characterized by steep slopes.

He said the injured were rushed to Muhoroni sub-county and Kericho hospitals.

Witnesses at the scene said that the bus was speeding and swerved as it drove down the slope before losing control.

Kenya is still struggling to control road accidents which continue to cause several deaths in the East African nation. Statistics from the world health organization show that between 3000 to 13000 people die annually in road accidents in Kenya.

Kenya has established the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) which was tasked with coming up with measures to reduce accidents in the country but little has so far been felt.

Amidst rising claims of corruption, the country reverted traffic responsibilities to traffic police after the NTSA was blamed for failing to implement the much needed changes.