This archive report was first published on 5 October 2019.
Families and relatives gathered outside Ahero Mortuary to identify the bodies of their loved ones who perished in a road accident at Awasi in Kisumu County on October 4, 2019.
The accident involved a bus heading to Nairobi from Uyoma in Siaya County and a trailer transporting alcoholic drinks from Kericho to Kisumu.
Relatives of the dead jammed the Ahero sub-county hospital to identify bodies of their loved ones, as survivors fought for their lives at various hospitals.
Among the dead was 22-year-old Nicholas Ochieng, son to long-serving chairman of the Kisumu Town Newspaper Vendors, Peter Oriwo.
Police officers were trying to piece together details of the accident as it emerged that a tractor hauling sugarcane may have been at the centre of the crash.
According to eyewitnesses, the bus was trying to overtake the tractor, which had no rear lights, when it crashed into the oncoming trailer.
Survivors recounted their ordeal, citing speeding and a tractor with no rear lights as contributing factors.
‘I have just identified the body at Ahero Hospital Mortuary. I am devastated,’ said Peter Oriwo, father of Nicholas Ochieng.
‘I lost all my valuables, including foodstuff I had bought for my family. I found myself here in the morning with only one shoe and socks,’ said Erickson Muli, a police constable who survived the accident.
The rescue mission was led by Kenya Red Cross personnel, with their ambulances and the Kenya police traffic officers manning the Nairobi-Kisumu highway.
‘We suspect the bus driver was speeding as he tried to overtake a tractor and realised too late that he could not overtake the tractor and avoid the approaching truck,’’ said Regional Commissioner James Kianda.
