By Sheetal Sukhija, Knoxville Times
11 Oct 2018, 03:14 GMT+10
NAIROBI, Kenya - In a catastrophic incident that is set to haunt Kenya, a bus travelling from the country's capital of Nairobi to Kisumu city, plunged off a slope in the dead of the night.
Police in western Kenya confirmed on Wednesday morning that 50 people were killed in the tragic accident.
An official said that the bus swerved off the road and rolled down a slope, with the roof of the bus being ripped off before it crash landed.
Rift Valley Regional Police chief, Francis Munyambu told reporters that investigators believe that the driver lost control of the vehicle.
Subsequently, the team of police officers that had gathered at the spot confirmed that 50 bodies had been found and counted.
They added that 50 people, including 12 women and seven children had died in the accident.
The police chief added that 15 people had survived the crash and had been hospitalized.
Munyambu also said that the vehicle plunged down a slope at a notorious accident black spot at about 4 am.
Later, Zero Arome, who heads the regional traffic police revealed that that the bus was not licensed to operate at night.
Arome also asserted that the owners of the bus would now face charges.
He said, It is very unfortunate what has happened and action will be taken.
In a statement on Twitter, the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta sent his condolences to victims families and hoped the survivors make a quick recovery.
He wrote, I would like to remind drivers to always exercise caution to avoid such catastrophic incident."
Kenya has been criticized over the consistently rising number of road accidents.
According to the World Health Organization, the roads in the country as among the most dangerous in the world.
In a 2015 report, WHO claimed that road accidents claim around 29.1 lives per 100,000 people.
Get a daily dose of Knoxville Times news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Knoxville Times.
More InformationSYDNEY, Australia - Stocks in Asia were a mixed bag on Friday as investors weighed up prospects for a trade ...
NEW YORK, New York - Three separate pieces of economic data tabled on Thursday put pay to this week's rally on U.S. ...
WASHINGTON DC - U.S. President Donald Trump has hinted he may be about to open a new front in his ...
SYDNEY, Australia - Stocks in Asia rose across the board on Thursday with news oiut of Washington that U.S. and ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks made modest gains on Wednesday as investors and traders contemplated minutes of the ...
DUBLIN, Ireland - Ireland's Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed met up with Jean-Yves Le Drian, the ...
DAMASCUS, Syria - Five bomb disposal experts have been killed in a targeted attack in Syria. A car laden with ...
CHICAGO, Illinois - U.S. actor Jussie Smollett was granted bail on Thursday after appearing in a Chicago court charged with ...
DHAKA, Bangladesh - Scores of people have died tragically in a fire that has ripped through apartment buildings, a restaurant ...
MONTPELIER, Vermont - Soon after announcing he is having another tilt at the presidency, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has named a ...
NEW YORK, New York - The FBI began an investigation into whether U.S. President Donald Trump was a Russian agent, ...
PERTH, Western Australia - An international drug ring operating in the West Australian capital of Perth has been dismantled. In ...
DUBLIN, Ireland - Following its successful acquisition of Hollywood-based Blindlight, Irish video-gaming company Keywords Studios has now announced its latest accomplishment. Keywords r ...
Read More