One dies, scores injured in dawn accident

• Accident occurred at 4 a.m after bus hit buffaloes.
• Woman passenger died on the spot and 10 others were seriously injured.

One person has died and scores injured after a Kitale- bound bus crashed at Mbaruk outside Nakuru town in

in Kenya's Rift Valley province on Tuesday.

The accident on the busy Nairobi-Nakuru highway occurred at 4 a.m after the bus christened Kampala Coach hit two buffaloes, which had strayed from Soysambu Wildlife Conservancy, and lost control before rolling several times and landing in a ditch.

The bus driver Mr Willy Njoroge who suffered minor bruises said he spotted the buffaloes just ten metres ahead and was unable to avoid hitting them.

“I hit one of the buffaloes first but due to its huge body mass, it pushed the bus towards the other and it was then that it got stuck beneath the vehicle. I lost control and we rolled into a ditch,” said Mr Njoroge adding that bus had 27 passengers on board.

The woman passenger died on the spot and 10 others were seriously injured. They were rushed to the Rift Valley general hospital in Nakuru, 18 kilometres from the accident scene.

There rest of the 27 passengers on the bus escaped with minor injuries.

Tuesday's accident involving the buffaloes was the sixth since July this year with at least five people having died

There are no road signs to warn drivers about the presence of wildlife in the area.

According to the Conservancy manager Charles Muthui and his Security counterpart Jeff Mitto, the animals have on numerous occasions strayed to look for water and pasture.