Dozens die in Kenya bus accident

At least 41 people have been killed and 33 others injured in a bus crash west of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, police and Kenyan Red Cross officials say. 

“It is a horrible scene. Bodies are strewn all over,” traffic police official Samuel Kimaru told the AFP news agency by telephone from the scene near the town of Narok on Thursday.

The bus was travelling from Nairobi to Homa Bay on the banks of Lake Victoria.

It was about halfway into the journey when it veered off the road and plunged into a valley, rolling over several times.The Red Cross said the accident occurred shortly after 2:00am on Thursday (23:00 GMT on Wednesday).

“It is difficult to tell exactly what happened but all indications point to speeding and possibly overloading,” the police official said.

“We are having a difficult time recovering the bodies because this place is hilly and bushy.”

“We’ve dozens others injured and we are not certain how many because they were taken to various hospitals […] we have officers checking with the hospitals,” Kimaru said

Kenyan roads are notoriously dangerous, with buses badly maintained and often overloaded so operators can maximise profits.

In February, 30 people died in a bus crash in the east of the country, and in July a school bus crash killed 20, most of them children.

Traffic regulations and fines were toughened late last year, although the local press continue to point at police corruption as a major problem.