A bus carrying mourners from a funeral overturns in Kenya, killing 25 people

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A bus carrying mourners back home from a funeral in southwestern Kenya overturned and plunged into a ditch on Friday evening, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others, authorities said.

The bus was travelling from the western town of Kakamega to the city of Kisumu, where the accident happened.

The driver lost control of the bus as it approached a roundabout at high speed and plunged into a ditch, according to Peter Maina, a regional traffic enforcement officer for the province of Nyanza, where Kisumu is located. A 10-year-old girl was among the crash victims, he said.

Twenty-nine people were initially reported injured in the crash, and four of them died later in the hospital, said Fredrick Ouma Oluga, the principal secretary in charge of medical services in Kenya.

The crash shocked many in the region, sparking renewed calls for tougher road safety measures.

Road accidents are common in Kenya and the wider East African region, where roads are often narrow and in poor condition with many potholes. Police often blame road accidents on speeding drivers.

In another accident on Thursday, nine people were killed in a bus crash in the town of Naivasha in the county of Nakuru. The victims were among 32 workers going to work when the bus crashed at a railway crossing, police said.

____

AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa