Update: Monday, July 25 3.00p.m: At least 34 people were confirmed dead following the accident involving a Modern Coast bus which veered off the Nithi Bridge before falling 40 metres below.
Tharaka Nithi County commissioner confirmed the fatalities, adding that 10 survivors were in critical condition at the Chuka County Referral and PCEA Chogoria Mission hospitals.
The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) suspended the operations of Modern Coast across the country pending investigations into the accident.
Teams from Tharaka Nithi County Fire and Rescue team were also deployed to the scene with survivors being rushed to PCEA Chogoria Mission Hospital and the Chuka County Referral Hospital.
Several people were feared dead following an accident involving a Modern Coast bus at a notorious blackspot along the Meru-Nairobi Highway.
The carnage happened after the Mombasa-bound bus, on Sunday, July 24, veered off the Nithi Bridge after the driver lost control of the 45-seater PSV.
It then rolled about 40 metres downhill before stopping beside the Nithi River.
Images seen by Kenyans.co.ke show that the bus was reduced to a mangled wreck, with its top part completely ripped off.
Several bodies could be spotted lying in the wreckage as responders attempted to save the survivors - some trapped in the river. Preliminary investigations pointed to brake failure as the cause of the accident.
Police officers later took charge of the scene and controlled traffic that had built up along the stretch of the road.
Responders, including a section of motorists plying the route, launched a rescue mission to pull out survivors from the wreckage. A team from the Tharaka Nithi County Fire and Rescue team has also been deployed to the scene with survivors being rushed to PCEA Chogoria Mission Hospital and the Chuka County Referral Hospital.
Statistics by NTSA released in June 2022 indicated that 1,912 people died in road carnages since January, with reckless driving established as the major cause.
The authority further expressed fears over the increase in the number of accidents as compared to 2021 attributing it to recklessness driving and failure to adhere to road signs.
Several people have lost their lives along the Nithi Bridge - even prompting the government to include a blackspot road sign.
In June, an accident claimed the life of one passenger while 13 others were injured after a 14-seater matatu plunged into the bridge.
Last year five others died on the same spot after a lorry collided with a matatu.
