3 Dead, Several Injured in Separate Accidents

As schools reopen, two separate road accidents have been reported in different parts of the country, leaving three people dead and three others injured.

One of the accidents occurred in Soweto, along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway, involving a bus and a truck. The crash, which took place on Wednesday afternoon, left three people, including a child, nursing injuries.

The injured were promptly evacuated to the Naivasha Subcounty Referral Hospital for treatment by the St John Kinungi-based Community First Responders.

“Three people, among them a child, have been injured this afternoon following a road accident involving a bus and a truck at Soweto along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway,” St John Ambulance confirmed in a statement.

In Bungoma County, three people have died following an accident at Mayanja Kibuke market in Bumula, Bungoma County. According to the police, the accident occurred on Wednesday afternoon, January 8.

The reports of the accident come in the wake of school reopening, as students resume school after the long Christmas holiday.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) issued new mandatory directives to motorists to ensure that students are safe on the roads while travelling back to school.

Among the directives is that all vehicles transporting students must have valid insurance, must be roadworthy, and must be fitted with functional speed limiters that transmit data to the NTSA Intelligent Road Safety Management System (IRSMS).

NTSA also called for the collective responsibility of parents, teachers, motorists, and relevant stakeholders to take personal responsibility and ensure that students board road-compliant vehicles.

“We urge parents, guardians, caregivers, and the public to utilise the NTSA Mobile App to verify essential details of public service vehicles, drivers, and conductors before allowing children to board the vehicles,” part of the statement by NTSA on Saturday read.

Meanwhile, NTSA is on the roads as it assesses vehicles to ensure that vehicles are compliant with the rules and guidelines. So far, a school van and a bus allegedly operated without insurance in Nyeri and Tharaka Nithi respectively were impounded on Wednesday.

NTSA revealed that operating a school van without insurance is reckless and puts children’s lives at serious risk. It added that it is vital that all vehicles, especially those carrying children, meet safety standards.