At least 24 people have been killed after a bus carrying mourners collided head-on with a cement-transporting truck on a major highway in southeastern Kenya, according to local police reports. The catastrophic crash unfolded in the Kanga area near Mtito Andei along the crucial corridor linking the capital of Nairobi to the coastal hub of Mombasa.

Medical officials confirmed that another 24 individuals sustained injuries and were rushed to nearby hospitals for emergency treatment. The ill-fated bus belonged to a local church organization and was transporting passengers back from a religious funeral in western Kenya, having reportedly stopped briefly for breakfast just moments before the fatal impact occurred.

Regional authorities and transport regulators alleged that the tragedy was precipitated by the bus driver attempting a risky overtaking maneuver past multiple vehicles, leading directly into the path of the oncoming heavy-duty truck. Meanwhile, survivors offered varying accounts, with some suggesting the commercial truck may have struck them from behind.

This devastating incident comes barely three weeks after another multi-vehicle disaster on the very same highway claimed 17 lives, exposing persistent infrastructural failures and the apparent impotence of official promises to overhaul commercial driving standards and drastically curb rampant road mortality across the East African nation.

Source: www.aljazeera.com