1 pupil dead, two pupils from Victorian Academy in Meru severely injured after bus overturns in Nairobi

A 52-seater bus lies on its side minutes after the accident. One pupil died and two others were seriously injured yesterday when a bus they were travelling in overturned along Nairobi’s Lang’ata Road?. (PHOTO:COURTESY)

One pupil died and two others were seriously injured yesterday when a bus they were travelling in overturned along Nairobi’s Lang’ata Road.

The bus driver is said to have been moving at a high speed and was at the moment trying to overtake another vehicle some distance to the Kenya Wildlife Service main offices.

It was carrying over 50 children from Victorian Academy in Maua, Meru County. The children were in Nairobi to participate in the ongoing annual music festival.

The bus was coming from Bomas of Kenya towards town where some teachers had converged over the event.

An eye witness, Benson Bosire, said the driver of the bus seemed to be unaware of the speed bumps on the road.

"It is like he realised too late that he was approaching the speed bumps and so the bus just flew in the air and rammed into the guardrail as it overturned," he said.

The driver of the 52-seater bus belonging to Nakaski Sacco vanished immediately after the incident as it was confirmed later by area traffic commandant Fredrick Simiyu.

"Only three of the children were seriously injured. One of them succumbed to her injuries," said Simiyu.

Simiyu said that three of the children who had sustained severe injuries were rushed to St Mary's Hospital. "The rest were sent to different hospitals around the area as they did not have serious injuries."

According to Dr Wycliff Kimani from St Mary's of the three who are aged between 6 and 18, the youngest, a girl had the most life-threatening injuries.

"She had a broken jaw, possible brain damage due to severe head trauma and an unconfirmed cervical spine. But she was still breathing on arrival and we managed to stabilise her. She had no peripheral injuries though," said Kimani. The girl later passed on.

The other, a boy had a bigger chunk of his thigh slashed by blunt object and is said to be in immense pain.

"The older one had a fractured left shoulder and multiple tissue injuries. She was the only one who was able to communicate clearly, all others were incoherent and still shaken," added Kimani.

All the three were stabilised before being referred to Kenyatta National Hospital for specialised treatment.