The final death toll has yet to be confirmed
More than 20 people have died in a tragic Kenyan bus accident as a coach full of passengers attempted to drive across a flooded road. At least 12 people were rescued but the final death toll remains unclear.
As you can see in the footage below, as the driver attempts to cross the bridge stretching over the fast-flowing Enziu River, located around 125 miles east of the capital, Nairobi, it topples to one side and begins to sink into the water.
Warning — footage may cause distress:
BREAKING: 17 people drown, 10 others rescued after a bus plunges into Enziu river in Mwingi, Kitui County, search for bodies on pic.twitter.com/ik4DZU8nVF
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) December 4, 2021
While the initial number of people confirmed dead was reported to be 17, some outlets are now saying that this has risen to as many as 31, with authorities and locals still searching to recover the bodies and those unaccounted for.
The bus had been hired to transport members of a church choir on Saturday morning. Four children are believed to have been among the dead. The number of passengers is still unknown and it is thought that the driver was not familiar with the route or the bridge in its current condition over the river in Mwingi, Kitui county.
Kitui County Governor Charity Ngilu has described the incident as “terrible” and avoidable tragedy, adding “it’s really sad. We lost a lot of lives.”
Kenya has been hit with an unusually heavy torrent of rain in recent weeks, with areas that had long had to endure a drought and livestock famine now flooded with water.
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