Kenya bus crash kills 24 after colliding with truck

MTITO ANDEI, Kenya (CBS, KYMA) - 24 people were killed in a road crash on Kenya's Nairobi-Mombasa highway on Sunday after a church bus carrying mourners collided with a tipper truck near Mtito Andei.

The bus, belonging to power of the word church, was traveling from Lugari in western Kenya to the coastal city of Mombasa. The passengers were returning from the burial of a bishop.

Police said the bus had travelled through the night and stopped briefly in Mtito Andei before continuing its journey.

About 10 kilometers outside the town, investigators believe the driver began overtaking a series of vehicles and encountered an oncoming tipper truck.

Traffic commandant Benjamin Mwanthi said the driver apparently tried to avoid a head-on collision by steering off the road, but lost control and the bus overturned.

The truck then plowed into the overturned vehicle, tearing through part of the bus and leaving wreckage strewn across the highway.

Authorities said the tipper truck driver was killed instantly and that 24 people had so far been confirmed dead.

At Mtito Andei sub-county hospital, families searched for information about relatives as survivors recounted the crash. "I have lost my sister and her husband," survivor reverend Spencier Mudave said.

Mudave said he had also been traveling with his four children and had only received information about two of them.

The crash left the church bus mangled, with seats ripped from their fittings and sections of the vehicle sheared away by the impact.

Police urged motorists to exercise patience and avoid risky overtaking, saying everyone using the road is trying to reach their destination safely.