Accident occurred on the Narok-Maai Mahiu road when the bus driver lost control

A family is in agony after failing to trace a two-year- old relative who was in the bus that crashed last week, killing 18 people.

The accident occurred on the Narok-Maai Mahiu road when the bus driver lost control and the vehicle plunged into a river. More than 45 people were injured.

The family of Clifford Nyakeya says they have searched the Narok County Hospital mortuary in search of the boy’s body in vain.

They said the boy’s mother, Lilian Onyancha, who was two months pregnant, died in the accident and her body had already been identified and taken home for burial.

“I was in Narok when I was told about the accident. I rushed to the hospital and searched in the wards. I found her body in the mortuary but the boy, who was travelling with her, was missing,” said Sylvester Ondiek, one of the relatives.

He said the boy’s father, Zablon Atuya, a Nairobi-based mechanic, had not been able to locate his first-born child after the accident.

The missing boy’s aunt, Janet Atuya, said the boy was active, had a brown complexion and spoke little Kiswahili.

The last time he was seen, he was dressed in yellow trousers and a jacket.

“I was with the boy and his mother in Kitengela three weeks ago. We are appealing to anybody with information that can help us find him to get in touch,” said Ms Atuya.

The family does not know whether the boy was rescued or might have been swept away by the flooded river into which the bus landed.

The death toll from the accident rose from 17 to 18 after another body was retrieved from the river a day after the accident.

“We do hope we find him alive, and if he is dead then we will be happy to have his body. We have reported the matter to police and the Kenya Red Cross Society,” said Mr Ondiek.

County Officer in charge of Disaster Management Nancy Laboso said they were doing all they could to trace the boy and appealed for help from anyone with any information that could help to locate him.