21 injured as bus lands in ditch

TOM OTIENO | NATION
Wananchi at the scene of an accident that occurred at Lela on the Busia-Kisumu road. All passengers in the public transport vehicle belonging to Acacia bus company sustained injuries when it plunged into a ditch. Some of the victims, who were seriously injured, were transferred to the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga hospital in Kisumu.

What you need to know:

  • “We heard a loud bang followed by heavy dust on the road,” a witness, Mr Jinah Otieno, said. “That is when we realised there was an accident.”

Twenty-one people are nursing serious injuries following a bus accident on the Kisumu-Busia highway Monday morning.

The victims were among travellers who were on their way to Kisumu from Busia when their bus veered off the road and landed in a ditch.

According to witnesses, the driver of a Kisumu-bound Acacia Shuttle bus was trying to avoid a head-on collision with an on-coming Msamaria Mwema bus, whose driver was trying to overtake a lorry.

The Acacia driver tried to avoid a collision, but plunged in a ditch.

“We heard a loud bang followed by heavy dust on the road,” a witness, Mr Jinah Otieno, said. “That is when we realised there was an accident.”

Ms Mary Atieno, another witness, said they saw the bus roll on the road before a loud bang attracted their attention to the scene.

“All we heard was a loud bang and on arriving at the scene, we saw people trying to get out of the wreckage bleeding,” Ms Atieno said.

The injured were taken to Chulaimbo Hospital. Most had deep cuts and injuries on the chest and head.

Police started investigations, but said the accident was as a result of non-observation of traffic rules.

The Kisumu county commandant, Mr David Ng’etich, promised to establish the cause.

“We will get into the bottom of the matter and make public our findings as soon as possible,” he said.