Witness accounts of Narok bus crash

By Alex Kiprotich

NAROK, KENYA: The scene was horrific, bodies piled upon bodies, personal effects and body parts strewn all over. This is what characterized the scene of horrific road accident at Ntulele where 41 people died on the spot while 33 others were critically injured when the driver of the bus they were traveling in lost control.

And as police and Redcross personnel raced against time to save the lives of those who were still alive, others were moved beyond words, they stood, tears flowing not knowing what to do. They were too numbed, too terrified by the bodies one could not avoid stepping on them as they responded to the cries of those still alive crying out for help.

They had been trapped in the mangled wreck of what was City to City bus which was heading to Homabay but cut shot at the notorious hot spot-a bend which does not look dangerous to the eye-very deceiving.

Traffic Commandant who was coordinating the rescue Samuel Kimaru summed the accident as horrific.

“I am lost for words. This is horrific. This is the highest death toll in our roads this year. Even the Salgaa one was not like this,” he said while tens of bodies lay a few metres from his feet.

Kimaru said the survivors rushed to Narok district hospital were all in critical condition. “The survivors rushed to hospital are all in critical condition. It is terrible,” he said.

The traffic boss said the driver might have slept because he did not attempt to break and crashed into the guard rails.

“From our investigations, the driver did not even attempt to brake or negotiate the corner. He seemed to have slept,” he said.

Raymond Otieno a witness said a passenger who was in the ill fated bus whom they suspect was the driver immediately after the bus rolled came out and stopped the vehicle they were in and told them that people were dying on the valley.

“He stopped a vehicle I was in and we saw he had some cuts on his forehead. He told us people are dying in the valley and we alighted to see what was happening,” he said.

Kimaru said they were still looking for the person whom the witnesses said was the driver.

“We have reports that the driver of the bus was the one who called for help immediately after the accident but up to now we do not know his whereabouts,” he said.

Another witness Jacob Kurgat who lives metres away from the scene of the accident said he heard a loud bang at around 2am and screams of people calling out for help.

He said he rushed to the scene where there were some other handful people who stopped vehicles passing by and transported survivors to Narok district hospital.

Tobias Ocholla, a witness said he was going to Nairobi in a sister bus but were stopped by a man who had cuts on the head and when they asked him if he had been attacked he said he was a driver of the ill-fated bus.

“All men in our bus alighted and rushed to save the injured. We cannot tell where the driver went to but I know he is not among the dead,” said Ocholla.

A police who did not want to be named said the driver was new in the area and not familiar with the road.

“The driver must have been speeding and given he was new on this road failed to negotiate the bend thus could not control the bus,” said the officer.

At the district hospital it was race against time as doctors and nurses received the injured.

A nurse who did not want to be named said they were overwhelmed.

“We cannot talk now, we want to save lives,” he said as he rushed to the ward where some of the victims were receiving treatment.