A somber mood engulfed the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital morgue as grieving families collected the bodies of their loved ones who perished in last week’s NAKI School bus accident, ahead of the mass burial in Nyakach, Kisumu County. (Photos: Rodgers Otiso.)
A heavy silence engulfed the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital morgue on Friday morning as families gathered to collect the bodies of 26 victims of last week’s NAKI School bus accident, ahead of a mass burial in Nyakach, Kisumu County.
Ambulances lined the driveway in a slow, solemn procession, their flashing lights dimmed. Police officers stood in quiet formation, directing vehicles to the morgue’s entrance, where coffins lay neatly in rows, each tagged with the name of a life cut short.
By midday, 22 bodies had been handed over to relatives. Four more remain at the facility, awaiting collection.
The accident at Coptic Roundabout last Friday evening left a trail of devastation across Nyakach. Families were wiped out in seconds, some losing as many as 13 relatives at once.
The victims, mostly mourners returning from a burial in Nyahera, were travelling aboard the ill-fated AIC Naki High School bus when it reportedly lost control, veered off the road, and plunged into a ditch.
Health Principal Secretary Dr Ouma Olunga confirmed that 21 people died at the scene and four more succumbed after arrival at the hospital. Twenty-eight others, including a child, remain admitted, with blood donation drives launched to aid their recovery.
“This is devastating for the entire nation,” Dr Olunga said, adding that the government had mobilised all available medical personnel and resources.
The morgue, usually a place of hushed efficiency, became a ground zero for raw human grief. Mothers clutched photographs to their chests, their sobs breaking the still air.
Fathers stood in silence, eyes fixed on the coffins being loaded into hearses. Children, some now orphaned, were gathered by relatives, their bewildered faces a haunting reminder of the tragedy’s reach.
Kisumu leaders, including Deputy Governor Mathews Owili, MPs Rosa Buyu, Joshua Oron, and Aduma Owour, joined grieving families at the facility, urging Kenyans to donate blood and extend support.
As the bodies began their journey home for burial, the sound of shutting hearse doors echoed through the hospital grounds. In Nyakach, a village already draped in mourning, preparations for the mass burial are under way, but the emotional wounds will take far longer to heal.
PHOTOS BY: ROGERS OTISO