11 Kenyan university students die in road accident during academic trip

A bus carrying students from a top Kenyan university collided with a truck on a busy highway after skidding in heavy rain, killing 11 of them and causing serious injuries to 42, police said.

The accident occurred at 5:50 pm on Monday, March 18, at Maungu, 360 kilometres from the capital Nairobi, when the students from Kenyatta University were travelling to the coastal town of Mombasa.

Ten people from the Kenyan varsity died on impact and another died later in hospital, police said, adding that 42 people were seriously injured.

“The driver of (the) university bus was overtaking a fleet of motor vehicles and as it was raining heavily, the bus skidded to the right side of the road,” the police report said.

This “prompted the driver of the truck to avoid head on collision, hence hitting the left side of the university bus,” it added.

The bus was carrying 58 people on an academic trip.

The injured were taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Voi, the Kenyan Red Cross said on X, formerly Twitter.

Kenyatta University said on Tuesday it was “deeply saddened” by the accident and had set up a help desk at the main campus to provide “assistance during this challenging time”.

“Some of the injured students are in the process of assessment for possible evacuation to Nairobi,” it said.