Narrow escape for over 50 students in grisly bus crash

One of the victims of the Starshine Blue schools, Kiambu is wheeled to the theatre at the Naivasha sub county Hospital. Scores other sustained injuries. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

Over 50 students and their teachers escaped death narrowly after a bus they were traveling in was involved in an accident along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.

However, three teachers and one student from Starshine Blue School in Kiambu were seriously injured during the morning accident in Raini trading center, 15kms from Naivasha town.

Twenty other students were slightly injured and were treated and discharged at Naivasha sub-county where they had been rushed following the early morning incident.

The accident occurred after the bus, which was destined for Nakuru National park, developed mechanical problems and veered off the road landing on its side.

The accident occurred at the same spot where dozens of people died two years ago after a fleet of cars burst into flames.

There were conflicting reports over the cause of the accident with the driver blaming brake failure while some students accused him of speeding and overtaking carelessly.

A witness James Njoroge said the bus was on high speed when the accident occurred adding that the driver could have been new on the route.

He added that the bus, on hitting some speed bumps along the route, lost control and started swaying from one side of the road to the other.

“It is by good luck that there were no other vehicles on the road at that time as the bus swerved from one side to other before crashing on its side,” he said.

Njoroge added that members of the public, with the help of passing motorists managed to rescue the trapped students from the bus and rushed them to hospital.

Another witness Francis Karimi denied that the bus could have developed mechanical problems adding that the driver was not hooting at the time of the accident.

He admitted that the speed bumps which were erected two years ago had caused tens of accidents mainly among new drivers.

“Just like the other accidents, the driver spotted the speed bumps when it was too late and this led to the accident where scores of students were injured,” he said.

Naivasha OCPD Samuel Waweru confirmed the incident adding that those injured were in stable condition at the sub-county hospital.

He termed the accident as self-involving adding that the driver had recorded a statement at Naivasha police station where the wreck of the bus had been towed to.