At least 11 killed in Kenya's road accident

NAIROBI - At least 11 people were killed and 46 others seriously injured in a road accident in eastern Kenya early on Wednesday, police confirmed.

Divisional police commander, Simon Birir said the accident that occurred at 02:30 hrs (2330 GMT) involved a passenger bus which lost control at Tulimani area near Mwingi Town.

"The bus was traveling from Nairobi to Garissa (northern Kenya) when it lost control at Tulimani place near Mwingi Town. So far we have retrieved 11 bodies and rushed 46 injured to various hospitals," Birir told Xinhua by telephone.

He said rescue operation which started at 04:00 hrs was still underway. "Once we finish the rescue operation, we will begin investigations into the accident but so far the information we have is that the vehicle lost control," Birir said.

"We still fear that the death toll may rise because rescue operation is still underway. We managed to rush 40 people to the hospital and in the last a few minutes; we have again rushed 6 injured to the hospitals. The bodies were trapped in the bus and this has slowed down our rescue operation."

The latest accident came after 24 people lost their lives in separate road accidents across the East African nation. Most of the accidents have been blamed on the careless over speeding by drivers.

The accidents came after Inspector General of Police (IGP) David Kimaiyo in January month called on traffic police and all base commanders to pay special attention to the enforcement of the traffic act including the amendments passed in the traffic amendment act no. 2 of 2012.

According to police statistics, over 2,600 people died while thousands others were injured in road accidents across the country since the start of 2012.

The accidents were mostly caused by both public and private vehicles, motorcycles, motorbikes and pedestrians.