A thing of joy has caused sorrow as guests heading to a wedding are swept into a flooded river. According to police reports, at least 23 people have died after a bus carrying choir members to a wedding; plunged into a river in Kenya on Saturday but 18 people were rescued.
Joseph Yakan the Mwingi East Sub-County Police Commander, said; the driver had tried to steer the bus past a flooded bridge, but the strong current swept the vehicle into the river.
The choristers were members of the Mwingi Catholic Church; and they had been traveling for their male colleague’s wedding when the accident occurred in Kitui County.
According to Officials, the incident is under investigation.
Onlookers screamed as the yellow school bus which was hired to take the church choir and other guests to the ceremony in Kitui County; keeled over and sank as the driver tried to navigate the surging waters.
Some aboard the stricken bus managed to escape before the bus was quickly submerged; and were helped to safety.
“We have this terrible, terrible accident that happened here this morning,” Kitui governor Charity Ngilu told reporters.
“The bodies that have already been retrieved right now are over 23. We have more bodies in the bus,” she said, adding that efforts to recover the corpses would resume on Sunday morning.
It however remains unclear how many passengers were aboard the bus when it tipped into the Enziu River; which is about 200 kilometres east of the capital Nairobi.
Witnesses said the driver had stopped to negotiate the river and was close to the other side; when the bus was swept beneath the churning currents.
Deputy President William Ruto extended his condolences; and also urged motorists to apply extra caution on the roads with many parts of Kenya experiencing heavy rain.
