A survivor of an accident that claimed 12 passengers along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway has accused the driver of speeding and reckless driving.
Amin Hassan said the journey from Kisumu town was smooth but from Salgaa, the driver of the Climax bus started speeding.
“Our journey kicked off well but the driver began overtaking recklessly along the way. He also carried more passengers along the way,” said Mr Hassan.
He said the driver ignored passengers’ pleas not to speed. At Kikopey, the driver was said to have knocked down a poster.
Hassan said the driver was trying to overtake a vehicle when he rammed a trailer at Sogea.
Hassan lost two friends in the accident.
Relatives and friends flocked to the Gilgil Hospital mortuary to identify the bodies of their loved ones.
Gilgil OCPD Emmanuel Opuru said 11 of the passengers died on the spot, one died while being taken to hospital while eight were injured.
He said the driver of the bus was overtaking a trailer when he rammed another one.
The driver of the bus was among those who died on the spot.
Emmanuel Larus broke into tears as he viewed the body of his wife, Josephine Ateyo, 32, who perished in the 3am accident.
Jackeline Kagware, Ms Ateyo’s sister-in-law, told The Standard that she was expecting her in Kangemi when she received news of the accident.
Mr Kagware said they kept communicating before she went to bed at around 11pm and at around 4am, she received a phone call from her mother-in-law informing her that Ateyo had died.
Shadrack Embezi lost his sister, Beatrice Kavere, whose husband, Ernest Aruvare is admitted at the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital in Nakuru.
Mr Embezi said the two had travelled to Visuri in Vihiga County for the burial of a church member and were travelling back to Nairobi.
Police and rescuers struggled to remove some of the bodies stuck in the wreckage of the bus.
Gilgil Hospital Medical Superintendent Denva Mariga said the facility had received 29 casualties.
He said 12 passengers were treated and discharged, six were referred to the Nakuru Level Five Hospital, but one was pronounced dead on arrival.
He said two of the passengers had head injuries, one had a spinal cord injury, while two sustained compound fractures.
Joseph Mburu, who is in charge of the Nakuru Level Five Hospital, said seven patients had been received, two were treated and discharged while four who had been admitted had been referred to Nairobi.
One of the patients who had been referred to the hospital died before arrival. “Patients were referred to Nairobi Hospital after their families requested their transfer. They were in a stable condition,” he said.
The accident caused a traffic snarl-up along the highway.
Mr Opuru has warned drivers to be careful and observe traffic rules while driving along the busy Nakuru-Nairobi highway to avoid accidents.
SOURCE: standardmedia.co.ke
