One person killed as bus ferrying mourners to Uganda crashed in Naivasha

Residents of Naivasha were treated to a bizarre incident after a bus ferrying mourner to Uganda was involved in an accident, killing one person, following a disagreement between the passengers.

During the 3 am accident along the Nairobi- Nakuru highway, near Naivasha GK Prison, the casket carrying the deceased crashed on the tarmac, spilling the corpse.

Three people were injured, one of them seriously, as police moved to collect the two bodies of the woman and the man to Naivasha sub-county hospital mortuary.

Incidentally, the trip to Uganda from Nairobi was marred by disagreements, forcing the bus driver to seek police intervention twice along the highway.

According to a relative, Justin Muliwara, the group was heading to Uganda for the burial of their aunt who died in Nairobi following a short illness.

He said that trouble started in Nairobi as the bus was overloaded and the driver declined to leave until all those who were not booked disembarked.

“The bus capacity was 52, but there were over 70 people, and after the excess passengers disembarked, the journey started, but along the way there was a fight between some mourners,” he said.

Muliwara added that they had to seek police intervention one more time to cool tempers before the bus was involved in an accident near Naivasha town.

“There was commotion near the front seats and this distracted the driver and in the process the bus veered off the road, killing one man while the casket was broken into pieces,” he said.

Naivasha OCPD Antony Sigei confirmed the incident adding that the journey was prematurely called off following the accident.

He said that the injured were taken to the Naivasha sub-county hospital and the two bodies were taken to the local mortuary as the mourners made new plans to travel to Uganda.

“Due to the disagreement among the relatives and friends, there was an accident causing the death of another man and the journey has been called off,” he said.

Earlier along the same highway, a lorry ferrying potatoes lost control and crashed into two vehicles near Kinungi center, 15kms from Naivasha town.

According to the police boss, five people were injured and rushed to hospital in stable condition, though their cars were extensively damaged.

“The lorry developed brake failure, ramming into two personal cars, and the injured were treated and discharged at the sub-county hospital,” said Sigei.