Early Wednesday morning, a road accident involving a 14-seater matatu and a truck along the Sondu-Katito Highway in Kibuon, Nyakach, led to the tragic deaths of four people, including three pupils from the Ober Boys Boarding School.
19 pupils were rushed to the Nyabondo Hospital, where their parents streamed in to find out their fate. One who was in critical condition has been transferred to the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital for specialised treatment.
Speaking to the media at the hospital, the parents alleged that the school made several blunders, including allowing the pupils to leave the school at 4am, while another stated he had been denied the authority to take his son home earlier than the stipulated closing date.
According to the bereaved father, he had attempted to take his son out of the school last weekend, but the school had told him to wait till Wednesday only for him to succumb in the ill-fated accident.
"I talked to my boy last Sunday when I wanted to go pick him up. I also talked to the class teacher, and she referred me to the headteacher. I went up to school, but the headmaster said that I should not collect my boy till Wednesday, today," the parent lamented.
"Sadly enough, by 8am today, I got a report that my child was involved in an accident. I travelled here from Kisumu, but unfortunately, my son was already gone."
Another parent from the institution also raised similar concerns on the journey, which kicked off at dawn, seeing as the pupils were in junior secondary school and the plans for their travels had not been properly communicated to the parents.
He expressed his disappointment over the lack of a clear timetable on how the boarding school pupils were going to get home for the holidays.
"We as parents are not satisfied with the conduct of the teachers and officials at the school. We are disappointed that the children were let out of the school at 4 am without even having breakfast. Why would they do that?" he mused.
Witnesses at the scene also spoke to the media, stating that the incident was troubling as it involved young schoolchildren who were travelling under the cover of the dark.
According to one of them, the road was prone to accidents, and several others had happened in the area. He also blamed a lax job by the traffic police officers posted in the area for the deaths.
Reportedly, the 14-seater matatu was ferrying a total of 22 passengers. However, it has been confirmed that only 19 of these were pupils at the school.
"We are calling on our government and traffic officers, especially in Sondu heading to Kisumu, to not just bribe drivers because putting money first puts the lives of Kenyans at risk," he said.
"This vehicle, for instance, was supposed to carry 14 people, but we just found out it carried 25 people. I pray that the head of traffic takes their job well to help Kenyans."
