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HARD TWIST OF FATE: Kenya�s General Motors chief Bill Lay flagging off the ill-fated Gateway bus at the Nile Hotel. The vehicle crashed hours later
--Ugandan-registered bus was on its maiden journey
By Okello Jabweli, Edith Kimuli and Steven Candia
THE Kampalla-Nairobi-bound Gateway bus yesterday suffered the fate of the Titanic. It crashed on its maiden journey in Nakuru, Kenya, killing 13 and injuring dozens.
Celebrations turned into mourning as the tragic news filtered through.
By press time yesterday, the Police had confirmed that three of the dead were Ugandans�and the death toll was rising.
The KAQ 699B bus, one of the new Isuzu fleet, had hours earlier been flagged off at a grandiose launch at the Nile Hotel in Kampala.
Kinori Mwangi, a Kenyan police spokesperson, said yesterday the bus crashed at 2:30am west of the Rift Valley provincial town of Nakuru at Soilo near the turn-off to Njoro on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway.
The East African Standard, a Kenyan daily, reported that the police confirmed the Kenyan driver and scores of Ugandans had been killed.
Deputy Police spokesman John Kimera identified the dead as David Wekulo Mbulate, Charles Waiswa and another only identified as Chimetaidin.
Kimera said they were in contact with their Kenyan counterparts and were waiting for details on the fate of the other Ugandan passengers.
Mwangi told The New Vision from Nairobi that the bus veered off the road and hit a tree.
The driver, who was overtaking, lost control while avoiding a head-on collision with an on-coming vehicle.
�A tree branch ripped off the right side of the (bus) roof from head to rear. The driver died instantly,� he said.
Two other passengers who flew out in the swing also died on the spot. Ten other bodies were found trapped in the wreckage. Nine critically injured passengers were rushed to the nearby Rift Valley Provincial Hospital.
The dead were still at the hospital mortuary by press time. Doctors said the death toll could rise.
Mwangi would not name the driver before his next of kin had been informed.
�The scene of
the accident is a black-spot. Drivers tend to speed when they reach that particular part of the road,� he said.
A Gateway employee at their Bakuli-Mengo booking office for Nairobi, confirmed that the unnamed driver and inspector were among the dead.
The official, who preferred anonymity, said they faxed the passenger manifest to the police in Nairobi yesterday afternoon. Worried relatives of the passengers jammed the offices yesterday afternoon for any word on the fate of their loved ones.
The over-night journey was flagged-off at 3:30pm, shortly before transport state minister Andruale Awuzu, who was chief guest, arrived.
The new Isuzu model was unveiled by General Motors of Kenya and its Ugandan subsidiary Akamba (Uganda) Limited.
Officials claimed at the launch that the new luxury model MV 123 fleet, now replacing the old MV 118 launched three years ago, was in its own class.
Among its many features, the officials claimed, are an improved chassis, TV screens and a turbo-charged engine that enables it to climb over hills faster.
A New Vision reporter who covered the launch in Kampala said, �It was quite a scene. They left cheering and waving to bus company officials and whoever looked in their direction.�
Ends
Published on: Thursday, 31st October, 2002 |
