/ 30 May 2006

At least 13 killed as bus smashes into truck in Kenya

At least 13 people were killed and 15 injured when a crowded bus smashed head-on into a cargo truck in south-eastern Kenya early on Tuesday, trapping many passengers in the wreckage, police said.

The bus was travelling from Nairobi to the port city of Mombasa when it hit the truck shortly after midnight local time at a place called Man Eater, about 300km south-east of the capital, they said.

”At least 13 people have died and 15 others have been admitted in Voi District Hospital,” local police commander Angelas Karuru told Agence France-Presse by phone from the crash site.

”After the accident many people were trapped in the bus wreckage and rescuers were struggling to free them,” he said, adding that the truck driver was among those killed.

Karuru said an investigation were underway to determine the cause of the crash, but initial leads showed that one of the vehicles had been speeding on the narrow highway that links the capital to the coast.

Traffic accidents are common in the East African nation, home to at least 33,6-million people, where traffic regulations are routinely violated or ignored by drivers and road conditions are often poor. — Sapa-AFP