Wamuzi News Ke
An incident that was both dramatic and alarming has occurred, and it has shocked the education and transport sectors. A school bus, which was carrying students who were returning to school, got overturned at Kimende along the busy Nairobi–Nakuru highway early Tuesday morning.
This incident led to immediate rescue operations and renewed discussions on the need for better road safety measures.
The Guardian Angel bus, which was taking a group of learners back to school after the holiday break, lost control and turned on its side under not yet officially clarified conditions. Pictures from the scene indicate the bus lying on its side with broken glass and debris scattered on the highway shoulder, where onlookers and trapped drivers had gathered to help the students and call for help.
The Motorists Association of Kenya acknowledged the crash through social networks and indicated that the bus was ferrying students back to school. First-person accounts from witnesses report that local people were making desperate attempts to remove children from the wrecked bus before the emergency services arrived.
This has made the already raised concerns over the road safety measures during the busy period of school reopening even more so.
While the official death tolls are not yet available, the first accounts indicate that a number of students were hurt, and some of them were taken to the nearest clinics for treatment of their injuries that urgently needed medical attention.
The authorities are still silent on whether or not any serious or life-threatening injuries happened, but the overturning of a bus carrying students on a main road has already caused a lot of parent and safety advocate protests due to the horrible nature of the incident.
The accident comes at a time when the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has been pleading with drivers to be extra cautious due to the reopening of schools throughout the country, wherein children are expected to be quite a lot on the roads, thus creating a situation where early morning and peak hour travel is quite risky.
The police and highway patrol units are looking into the possible causes of the crash, like the speed of the vehicle, road conditions at the Kimende stretch, and the behavior of the driver. The local authorities have issued a warning stating that if negligence or noncompliance with regulations is uncovered, the people responsible will be subjected to charges formally.
