Death Toll From Accident Along Kisumu-Kakamega Road Rises to 25 as Govt Appeals for Blood Donations
- The death toll from the Kisumu-Kakamega Highway bus crash has risen after more victims succumbed in the hospital
- Officials said the 51-seater bus, carrying mourners, overturned at the Coptic Mamboleo roundabout in the evening
- Survivors, including a child, were admitted to JOOTRH as extra medics arrived from Nairobi to boost treatment efforts
- Authorities appealed for urgent blood donations while praising residents and emergency teams for their swift response
Didacus Malowa, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.
The death toll from the tragic Friday, August 8 evening accident along the Kisumu–Kakamega Highway has risen.
Source: Facebook
The accident occurred at around 5.30pm when a 51-seater AIC Naki Secondary School bus ferrying mourners from Kisumu Nyahera area overturned at the Coptic Mamboleo roundabout.
Witnesses said the driver appeared to lose control while negotiating a bend, causing the vehicle to veer off the road and roll into a ditch.
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Nyanza Regional Traffic Commander Peter Maina confirmed that among the dead are 10 men, 10 women, and an eight-month-old baby.
Initial reports had put the number of fatalities at 21, but the figure has since increased to 25 as more victims succumbed to injuries.
How many people died in Kisumu crash?
Principal Secretary for Medical Services, Ouma Oluga, confirmed the updated figures at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH), where the injured are being treated.
He said the number of survivors admitted to the facility’s Orthopaedic Trauma Ward stands at 29, including one child.
"As of now, we cannot say much, and according to the numbers that we have, we've lost 25 lives, and in the ward here, we have 28 people and one child; that is 29 people, which places the number of passengers in the bus at 54. We will say more later as they develop," Oluga said.
Oluga described the tragedy as a huge loss for both the region and the country, urging unity in supporting the injured.
"We share our heartfelt condolences. It is a big loss for this region and for Kenya. The big thing now is we help our injured people; we want to treat all those who were rescued so that we don't lose any other person,"
How is the govt helping Kisumu crash victims?
Oluga stated that the Ministry of Health had deployed additional doctors and nurses, with some brought in from Nairobi to boost treatment efforts.
"We are united in grief and work that could save the lives of those still alive. As per now we've assessed how the hospital is working and we've seen that the response from our medics was good," he opined.
According to Oluga, the government had also put in place mechanisms to ensure those admitted receive all necessary drugs and urgent medical attention.
"As at now we've put in place mechanisms that will enable us to treat those admitted here. Doctors and nurses working here have been called, and they're on duty. There are also doctors from the Ministry of Health who we've put on standby, and that is where I came from, Nairobi, to this place," Oluga revealed.
Officials have since launched an urgent appeal for blood donations to help save the lives of survivors still fighting for their lives in the hospital.
Source: Twitter
He also reserved praise for the swift action of emergency responders, including medics, the Kenya Red Cross Society, police officers, and local residents.
"We say thank you to our emergency teams from the Red Cross Society and a big thank you to the police and local residents who helped our personnel bring everybody to our hospital at JOOTRH, popularly known as Russia. We want to start a blood donation drive for those who need blood and all the drugs needed," the PS observed.
How did the KPC bus collide with train?
In another tragic incident, eight Kenya Pipeline Company employees were tragically killed in Naivasha when a freight train collided with their bus near Morendat Junction.
The crash occurred at around 5 p.m. on a misty, rain-dampened evening, when the bus apparently suffered brake failure and crossed railway tracks without the driver seeing the approaching train.
The collision dragged the bus more than 200 meters. All eight victims, seated near the driver’s side, died instantly.
Proofreading by Asher Omondi, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
