NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 18 – Thirty-two people were wounded when a bus veered off the road and plunged into a ditch along Nairobi’s Valley Road on Thursday morning.
The passengers were in a City-bound bus from Kawangware when it lost control at the Valley Road-Milimani Road junction near Integrity Centre, police and witnesses said.
“Many of them were injured on impact and there are those who tried to jump out. They have been rescued and rushed to hospital,” Nairobi Traffic Commandant James Onyango said.
The accident occurred at about 8 am.
“This area has become a black spot; this is not the first time an accident is occurring here,” Mr Onyango said and warned motorists to be careful when driving on Valley Road to town.
A witness Lucas Nyarangi who works at the Ministry of Roads told Capital News that he was walking to town when the accident occurred.
“It was going at high speed, and he (driver) tried to negotiate the corner at the Milimani road junction, he realised there was a vehicle ahead of him and avoided to hit it. That is when he lost control of the bus,” he said.
“The police response was good because they arrived in time as people were assisting the victims,” he added.
Earlier this year, a vehicle driven by a son to Prime Minister Raila Odinga and another one by a son to former CID Director Joseph Kamau were involved in an accident at the same spot.
Police say up to six accidents involving both public and private vehicles have occurred there in the last four months, making it one of the black spots in Nairobi.
“Something must be done to curb future accident at this spot. It is becoming more dangerous not only for motorists but pedestrians too,” Mr Onyango said.
