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10 Killed In Grisly Accident
Fifty others were seriously injured and admitted to the Kisii District Hospital, 44 of them in a critical condition. Police from Kisii and Keroka stations, who teamed up at the scene of the accident, 14 kilometres from Kisii town along the Kisii-Kericho road, confirmed that seven people died on the spot while three others, including the driver, died on arrival at the Kisii District Hospital.
Of the dead, eight were men while the others were women. However, it was feared that more people could still be trapped underneath the vehicle.The Kisii District Medical Officer of Health, Dr Thomas Ogaro, said most of those admitted suffered multiple fractures. Fourteen of the seriously injured were women while the other 30 were men.
Eyewitnesses said the vehicle flew into the river, about 100 metres down the valley, as it was negotiating a corner. It was travelling to Kisii from Nairobi.The bus, known as Great Southern, registration number KAH 891C, landed in a thicket of gum trees at the bottom of the valley, crushing to death some of its passengers who had been thrown out of the windows.
The 1 pm accident caused a heavy traffic jam. Kisii District police boss Thomas Odipo and other policemen led the rescue work. However, Mr. Odipo said his team could establish neither the number of passengers in the bus nor the cause of the accident. An eyewitnesses, however, claimed the driver was trying to avoid a pothole.
Meanwhile, two opposition MPs yesterday said the government should have declared the Kericho bus accident a national tragedy.James Orengo and Shem Ochuodho said this would have enabled Kenyans to mourn together.
The two also called on the government to enforce speed limits to tame the increasing number of road accidents. They challenged the government to maintain roads countrywide. The MPs were speaking after visiting survivors of the Kericho bus crash at the Kenyatta National Hospital. At least 74 people died in the accident which occurred last week.
Mr. Orengo called for a national disaster centre as a permanent mechanism for tragedy response.
Dr Ochuodho called for a complete overhaul of the traffic police department.
He said the Shaggy bus had passed three police roadblocks and received greenlight to proceed with the journey. He also called upon the owners of the two buses to assist the accident victims. The MP said the House Committee on transport had summoned the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President in charge of the El Nino fund to appear before it to show progress made in re-carpeting roads.
On counsellors, Dr Ochuodho asked them to rise to the occasion the way they did during the Kenya Airways tragedy last month. Dr Waweru said psychologists from the Kenya Psychological Association were on the ground and that the hospital had suspended billing till a later date.
