KU bus accident: Seven airlifted to Nairobi for treatment

Six (6) Kenyatta University students and a teacher have been airlifted to Nairobi for further treatment following a grisly road accident on Monday night.

The students were rushed to the Moi County Referral Hospital in Voi after their bus was involved in a head-on collision with a truck near Maungu area in Taita Taveta.

Voi OCPD Dafala Ibrahim told The Standard that ten students died on the spot while one succumbed to injuries while at the hospital. 

The bus was ferrying students for an academic trip from Nairobi to Mombasa when the accident occurred.  

Kenyatta University (KU) Vice Chancellor Paul Wainaina on Tuesday morning visited the injured students in the hospital.

16 Kenyatta University students involved in the Maungu accident airlifted to Nairobi for further treatment pic.twitter.com/yZdU7YHuWx

— The Standard Digital (@StandardKenya) March 19, 2024

A statement by Wainaina on Tuesday indicated that the University had dispatched a team from the main campus and Mombasa campus to the accident scene to assess the situation, assist the survivors, and provide an accurate report.

The VC has condoled with families of students who lost their loved ones.

On his part, Taita Taveta Governor Andrew Mwadime says the medical bills for all the KU students will be waived.

Update: 

As of 3.00 pm on Tuesday, The Standard confirmed that nine more students involved in yesterday's accident will be airlifted to Nairobi, and are expected to land at Wilson Airport by 4.00 pm.

The first group of seven has already been re-admitted at Nairobi’s Avenue Hospital and is in stable condition but with multiple fractures, the hospital's Managing Director Dr. Mohamed Said has confirmed.

Additional reporting by Okumu Modachi.