By Kwanta Douglas –
On Saturday, a bus carrying members of the Mwingi Catholic Church choir plummeted into the Enziu River in Kenya’s Kitui County, killing a dozen people.
Seven more remains were retrieved Sunday from the bus that was pushed off a bridge by a raging river, raising the total death toll to more than 30.
On Saturday, the bus carrying the church choir and other guests to a wedding in Kitui keeled over and drowned beneath fast-flowing floods as the driver attempted to traverse a submerged bridge.
Twelve people were able to flee the bus before it was swept away by the muddy water, but the majority of those on board were unable to do so.
Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu said 31 bodies had been retrieved since Saturday by military divers, but warned the toll could rise further as the search and rescue operation continued.
“Today we have been able to retrieve seven. We still have more bodies in the bus,” she told reporters late Sunday.
“It is very, very sad indeed. We have lost so many lives.”
It remains unclear how many passengers were aboard the bus when it tipped into the Enziu River, about 200 kilometres east of the capital Nairobi.
Among the passengers in the ill-fated bus were members of the bridal party, including a woman, her three children and two grandchildren.
The choir members were to perform at the wedding to solemnise the marriage union of the parents of one of the members.
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.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday sent his condolences to the families of the victims and urged Kenyans to be cautious on roads during the rainy season.
“Once again, the President wishes to remind Kenyans across the country to heed government advisory against attempting to cross swollen rivers, especially during the current rainy season,” read a statement from Kenyatta’s office.
AFP