13 dead in bus-lorry collision near Sultan Hamud

Ten people perished on the spot and three others while on their way to hospital on Sunday morning when the bus they were travelling in collided head on with a lorry on Mombasa Road.

21 passengers were rushed to Makindu Level 4 Hospital, nine of them in critical condition and the others with serious head injuries, fractured limbs and broken ribs.

Confirming the 12:30 am incident, Mukaa district police commander Ferdinand Nyongesa said the accident occurred at Ngokomi area between Kiongwani and Sultan Hamud shopping centre.

Mr Nyongesa said that the dead included drivers of both vehicles, the loader of the lorry and three children.

The police boss said that other bodies could not be identified due to the severity of the injuries.

The bus was on its way to Mombasa from Kirui while the lorry ferrying ballast was heading to Nairobi from Mombasa at the time of the accident.

When the Nation visited the scene at 9:45 am, shoes and other personal belongings were scattered all over the road.

The bodies were taken to Machakos Level 5 hospital mortuary.

CHILD ESCAPES WITH NO INJURIES

Six of the survivors among them a 1 year 5 month old boy camped at Sultan Hamud police station after they were treated at the Sultan Hamud Sub-County District Hospital and discharged.

Most of them sustained head injuries while the young child had no injuries. His father, Nzale Kituko, said he was asleep at the time of the accident and sustained an injury on his left leg.

An eyewitness, Kamota Bindu, told the Nation that he saw the lorry fast approaching the bus in the opposite direction, hitting it on the right side.

The police commander accused the drivers of tampering with speed governors and careless driving.

Police had a difficult time controlling vehicles at the scene of the accident resulting in a traffic jam which lasted for more than four hours.

Mr Nyongesa said that the wreckage of the bus was towed to Sultan Hamud police station while the shell of the lorry which caught fire during the accident was left at the scene. The right side of the bus was completely ripped off.

Sources at Makindu Level 4 Hospital revealed that apart from the nine who were in critical condition, the accident victims were responding well to treatment.

Police have requested relatives of the passengers who were from different parts of Machakos, Kitui and Nairobi counties to go to Sultan Hamud police station in order to identify the dead and injured.