The month of August has cast a dark shadow over Kenya's roads, and the nation is once again in mourning following a tragic bus accident on the Kisumu-Busia highway. A Royal Liner bus, which was traveling along the busy road, was involved in a horrific collision with a flatbed trailer and a fuel tanker just past Lela in Maseno. At the time of this article's publication, several people are feared dead and scores of others injured, marking yet another devastating chapter in a series of fatal road crashes that have plagued the country.
Reports from the scene indicate that the tragedy occurred when a flatbed trailer attempted to overtake the bus at a sharp corner, hitting it from behind. Online images and video clips captured the harrowing aftermath, with the driver's side of the bus completely scraped out from the collision. First responders, including police officers, were quick to arrive at the scene, working tirelessly to rescue passengers and manage the large crowd that had gathered.
This accident comes just a day after another long-distance bus, ENA Coach, was involved in a fatal accident at the Escarpments area in Mai Mahiu. In that incident, a trailer lost its brakes and rammed into the bus, which was traveling from Nairobi to Migori. The bus overturned, leading to two fatalities: an adult female passenger and a minor. In an eerily similar and even more devastating accident in the same region, a school bus ferrying mourners overturned at the Coptic Roundabout on the Kisumu-Kakamega Road, resulting in an immediate death toll of 21.
Click Link To Watch More On This
Click Link To Watch More On This
The cumulative death toll from the August 8 accident has now tragically risen to 26, as more victims have succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. Preliminary investigations into that incident indicated that the driver lost control of the bus before it veered off the highway and overturned, a grim reminder of the often preventable nature of these tragedies.
In light of the alarming rise in road carnage, both the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and the National Police Service (NPS) have vowed to get to the bottom of the matter and tighten the enforcement of road regulations. In a statement on Sunday, the NPS revealed a new multi-pronged strategy aimed at curbing the increasing number of crashes. This strategy will include speed monitoring of public service vehicles and commercial trucks, enforcement against overloading of goods and excess passengers, cracking down on PSVs operating outside their licensed routes, and conducting anti-drunk-driving operations. As the nation mourns the latest victims, it is hoped that these new measures will be implemented effectively to prevent future tragedies and bring an end to a month of relentless grief on Kenya's roads.
