Three pupils were on Saturday, February 24, killed in a road accident involving a school bus belonging to the Maadili Schools along the Gitugi-Murang’a Road in Mathioya Constituency.
Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata in a statement confirmed the incident and assured that efforts to take care of the casualties were in place.
According to him, the bus was carrying 38 pupils and three teachers who were headed back to Gatundu in Kiambu County after a scouts’ function in Nyeri County.
In his statement, Kang’ata noted that his government dispatched fire and ambulance services to provide support at the scene in response to the accident.
The injured passengers were rushed to various health facilities in the county including the Murang’a Level 5 Hospital and Maragua Hospital for treatment.
“I want to convey my condolences to all the affected families. We had a total of 43 people in the accident; three teachers, two other people and 38 pupils,” the Governor noted after visiting the casualties.
“County dispatched its fire and ambulance services to render support to the victims. They were evacuated to Muranga and Maragwa hospitals.”
County Commissioner Confirms Accident
In a separate statement, the National Government Administrative Officers confirmed that the incident took place at around 6pm. According to the alert by the NGAO team, the bus overturned and landed in a roadside ditch leaving scores of the passengers with different degrees of injuries.
One pupil was confirmed dead at the scene while the others were evacuated to the health facilities in an operation coordinated by the county government in collaboration with the administrative officers.
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Whilst the cause of the accident was not established immediately, the preliminary report by the county’s NGAO team pointed to the lack of proper signage along the road known to have sharp corners.
The stretch along the Gitugi-Murang’a Road is known as a blackspot with several grisly accidents reported in the past.
At the same time, the Murang’a County government was put on the spot after concerns about its preparedness for emergency situations with some parents complaining that health facilities did not have enough e-ray equipment to help establish the extent of internal injuries sustained by the pupils.
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The accident now adds to a long list of traffic accidents reported in 2024 in different parts of the country. Two days earlier on Wednesday, February 21, seven people were killed after an accident involving a matatu and a lorry along the Katito-Kendu Bay Road.
As of February 11, 2024, 563 people had died through road accidents since January 1, 2024- according to a report by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), painting a picture of a dangerous trend facing road users on Kenyans roads.
