A school trip to Masinga Dam nearly ended in disaster after a bus carrying students and teachers from St Augustine Mumbuni Secondary School was involved in a grisly crash along the Kivandini–Masinga Road in Machakos County.
The vehicle, which had 48 students and three teachers on board, is reported to have lost control at Mutwamwaki Ridge after its brakes failed. The bus veered off the road and rolled several times before landing in a ditch.
Residents nearby rushed to the scene, pulling out trapped students and teachers from the mangled wreckage before rescue teams arrived. Those who sustained injuries were quickly transferred to Matuu Level 4 Hospital for treatment.
Images from the scene showed the bus badly damaged, with its front section crushed and the windshield shattered.
The incident adds to a worrying trend of school-related road accidents in recent weeks. Just two weeks earlier, a pupil died and 13 others were left injured in Nairobi’s Mihango area after a school bus lost control and veered off the road, fatally knocking down a child who was walking nearby.
In another case along the Kisumu–Busia highway, several students were injured when their bus, transporting them to the Kenya National Music Festival, was involved in an accident at Sirwa Posta, Vihiga County.
Back in March, Machakos County witnessed a similar tragedy in Sabaki, Mavoko, when another school bus overturned while ferrying learners along the slippery Mombasa Road.
With such accidents becoming alarmingly frequent, questions are now being raised over the safety standards of school transport across the country.
