At least five children and a bus driver died on Saturday, June 24, in a road accident at Kaburengu junction on the Eldoret-Webuye highway after a trailer collided with a school bus.
A police report obtained by Kenyans.co.ke indicated that the trailer driver lost control of the vehicle due to faulty brakes and rammed into the school bus.
Both vehicles were travelling in the same direction towards Webuye when the crash occurred. The bus landed on the left side after veering off the road.
"It happened that an unknown driver who escaped from the scene was driving a motor vehicle make Mercedes Benz from Eldoret direction heading towards Webuye and upon reaching the location of the accident while descending, Chimoi lost control of the said vehicle and hit on the right side an Isuzu bus belonging to Ebenezer Academy in Busia carrying an unknown number of pupils. The bus landed on its left side off the road," the report read in part.
Due to the impact, four girls and a boy were fatally injured alongside the 48-year-old school bus driver who died on the spot.
The trailer driver, however, escaped from the scene while several pupils and staff were rushed to Webuye County Hospital.
"Scene visited and necessary action taken. The bodies of the deceased pupils were moved to Webuye County Hospital Mortuary pending identification and postmortem," the police report read in part.
According to police, efforts are underway to arrest the runaway driver.
NTSA Statistics
The latest statistics by National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) recorded 1,679 fatalities on Kenyan roads since January 2023, with pedestrians leading at 571 while motorcycle accidents resulted in 449 deaths.
Four pedestrian fatalities, however, dropped by four per cent compared to the same period last year when 1,756 people died across the country.
NTSA indicated that an increase in signage along major roads contributed to reducing accidents as part of the road safety measures.
Under the programme with the counties, NTSA would develop transport committees and address the rising cases of accidents especially involving boda boda operators.
