NTSA suspends Garissa bus licence after accident

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has suspended the operating licence of Grand Bus Service Sacco after the Sunday night accident that killed 14 people.

The accident occurred on Garissa-Mwingi road when one of the buses belonging to the sacco hit a trailer that had stalled on the road. The bus was heading to Wajir.

According to NTSA, preliminary investigations indicated that the trailer's driver had not placed any warning signs on the road to alert oncoming motorists on the presence of the stalled vehicle.

The authority said the bus driver drove without due care considering that the road section is straight and flat, and that he should have seen the reflective chevrons and taken appropriate action to avoid the crash.

The authority further directed the bus company’s officials to submit a comprehensive incident report.

Also suspended were driving licenses of the truck driver – identified as Abdullahi Sugow Muhuned — and the bus driver —  Osman Ali Guhad – pending investigations.

The comes as the number of road crash victims this year slightly surpassed those who died in 2018. According to latest survey, by May 9, 2019 a total of 1,192 people had died on the road compared to 1,054 who died by the same date last year.