At least 11 Kenyatta University students from Nairobi Campus are feared dead after the bus they were traveling in for an academic trip to Mombasa was involved in an accident with a trailer at Mackinnon Junction, Maungu, Voi, Taita Taveta-County, along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway on Monday night 18 March 2024.
The Kenya Red Cross team that spearheaded the rescue operations confirmed that Ten students died on the spot while another was pronounced dead on arrival at Moi County Referral Hospital, Voi. 42 others who sustained serious injuries, with some in critical condition were also taken to Moi Hospital for urgent medical care.
One of the survivors narrated that the driver of the bus was overtaking a fleet of vehicles and it was raining heavily, when the bus swerved to the right side of the road to avoid a head-on collision with the lorry, only for the lorry to hit one side of the bus that ripped it off.
On Tuesday, the University Vice Chancellor Prof. Paul Wainaina visited the MCRH to check on the status of the students and staff involved in the accident. Several casualties were moved to Aga Khan University Hospital in Mombasa, while others will be moved to Avenue Hospital and the Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Research Hospital in Nairobi. This is after the university provided Air ambulances to the Ikanga airstrip in Voi, where patients in critical conditions were airlifted to other facilities for further medical attention
Meanwhile, Kenyatta University has also dispatched a team of doctors, medical personnel, security officers, and wellness officers to Voi, to assist with the operations.