11 die in road accident in western Kenya

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – Eleven people including at least 2 students were killed in a highway accident in western Kenya early Thursday morning.

Kisumu County Commissioner Mohamed Maalim told Anadolu Agency that the accident involving an "overloaded" 14-seater minibus -- commonly known as a matatu -- happened on the busy Kisumu-Kendu Bay Road.

"The driver lost control of the vehicle in Nyalunya area before the matatu veered off the road, rolled a couple of times, and hit a culvert.

"Eleven people were immediately killed, while seven others were injured," Maalim said, adding the vehicle had two female students from Kimilili Girls Secondary school in Trans Nzoia, and four of the dead were yet to be identified.

Witnesses told reporters on the scene that two more students, one heading to Ebenezer Primary School in Western Kenya and the other to Kisumu Boarding School also died in the accident, though police are yet to confirm this.

Seven of the survivors, who were in critical condition, were rushed to the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital for emergency treatment, Maalim said.

The vehicle which is only supposed to carry 14 people is said to have carried more than 18 people at the time of the accident.

The County Commissioner has issued a stern warning saying that vehicles found carrying excess passengers will be impounded and the owner prosecuted.

The accident comes just less than a month after the driver of an over-speeding chemical tanker lost control on the Nairobi-Naivasha highway, crashing into other vehicles and killing 39.