11 Kenyatta University Students Killed After Bus Collides With Trailer

UPDATE: Eleven students from Kenyatta University have been killed while 21 others were seriously injured following an accident in which a bus they were travelling in collided with a truck in the Maungu area near Voi on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.

This was confirmed by Voi sub-county police commandant Dasala Ibrahim who said that those injured were rushed to hospitals around the area. 42 students were in various hospitals while four others were not immediately accounted for.

The bus was ferrying students heading to Mombasa for an academic trip.

Several students from Kenyatta University are feared dead after a bus they were travelling in was involved in an accident with a trailer on Monday, March 18.

The accident involving the two vehicles was reported in Maungu, Voi, Taita Taveta County resulting in the death and injuries of several students.

Photos seen by Viral Tea showed the bus heavily damaged from the back left-hand side by the loaded trailer, a matter which could have affected the students seated at the back.

Some of the students were seen motionless on the ground as eyewitnesses attempted to rescue the injured before police arrived.

Police at an accident scene involving a Kenyatta University bus on Monday, March 18, 2024. /PHOTO

Additionally, seats from the bus and other materials belonging to the students were scattered on the ground as it continued raining.

Police and a county emergency response team nonetheless arrived at the scene to assess the situation, offer emergency care to the injured and ferry the bodies to the local mortuaries.

The scene led to a massive traffic build-up as motorists stopped to watch in shock at the horrific accident scene. Police however guided the motorists to clear traffic along the road.

The university, while reacting to news of the accident, wrote: "Deeply saddened by the tragic news this evening."

"Sending our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the students of Kenyatta University who lost their lives in the accident at Maungu. Our thoughts and prayers are with you."

In other road accident news, five people have died in a grisly road accident involving a 14-seater Matatu and a tractor along Silibwet-Olenguruone Road in Bomet County.

Authorities stated that 23 other passengers were rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Among those who died in the accident was the Matatu driver, who wa said to have been speeding when the accident happened.

The matatu, which was travelling from Olenguruone in Nakuru toward Bomet, was said to have lost control and rammed into a tractor that was travelling in the opposite direction.

Eyewitnesses at the scene said the driver lost control as he was spotted more than two kilometres away, moving from one lane to another before ramming into the tractor.

Mugango Locatin acting chief Richard Cheruiyot said five people died on the spot with 23 people being rushed to hospital.

“We took a total of 23 people to Tenwek Hospital and all of them were inside the matatu except two who were traveling in the tractor,” the chief told the media.

He decried how the matatu had been overloaded saying a total of 27 people were traveling on the matatu.

Scene of an accident that occurred in Bomet on March 18, 2024. /THE STAR