32 injured as bus overturns at Daraja Moja black spot in Kisii

At least 32 people suffered injuries Wednesday morning after a bus overturned at the Daraja Moja bridge in Kisii.

Witnesses said the driver appeared to have lost control before the bus hit a street light pole and overturned, opposite the Kisii Polytechnic bus stage.

The injured were rushed to Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Two were said to be in a critical condition.

Hundreds of curious onlookers milled around the scene of the accident after the mid-morning incident.

“I was at my kiosk when I heard a loud bang. The next thing I saw was a bus on its side with bystanders trying to assist passengers to get out of it. Many people were injured,” said Irene Bosibori, an eyewitness.

Nelson Oiga, a boda boda rider, also recounted how the ill-fated bus zigzagged on the road before overturning.

HIT A BUMP

“I saw the bus hit a bump next to the Tosha Petrol Station at high speed.

“It then weaved from side to side before hitting a street light pole and overturning,” he said.

Mr Oiga said ambulances rushed a number of badly injured passengers to hospital.

“The ambulances arrived shortly after the accident. Quite a number of the passengers were badly injured.

“I saw the driver and a female passenger being pulled out of the vehicle. She (passenger) was bleeding from her injuries,” a shaken Mr Oiga told the Nation.

The bridge marks the beginning of the accident-prone section of the Daraja Moja bridge-Nyamataro road, a black spot that has claimed over 150 lives in the past decade.

The latest incident comes barely two days after the Nation highlighted the danger posed by the dilapidated state of the road.

Kisii County Health Executive member Sarah Omache confirmed that a total of 32 patients were admitted to Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital.