At least 34 people perished following a road accident that involved a modern Coast bus, registration number KCF614U, at Nithi River blackspot on Sunday evening.
The accident occurred at around 6.40 pm with eyewitnesses stating that the bus’s brakes might have failed as it approached the bridge thus hitting the rails before plunging into the river that is 40 meters below the bridge.
“The bus must have developed brake failure because it was moving at a very high speed when the accident happened,” said a witness.
Only 11 people are said to have survived the accident but the survivors were left with serious injuries.
The bus was heading to Mombasa from Meru town when the unfortunate incident occurred.
The same bus, KCF614U, however is not new to controversies as there have been complaints about it since 2016 with many people calling for its withdrawal from the road.
Anjeyo P’kor Ananda tweeted in December 2017 highlighting buses that have caused serious road accidents and were returned on the road after being refabbed and the modern coast bus in question was among them.
The second one was KCF 614U by Modern Coast. Hit a stationery truck on the Msa-Mld highway. One fatality in the driver. The bus was refabbed by Banbros and is back on the road
— Anjeyo P’Kor Ananda (@anj_116_) December 31, 2017
In April 2017 the bus reportedly got involved in a fatal accident at Malindi airport and in December the same year it hit a stationary truck along Mombasa-Malindi highway.
In December 2016, a concern about the same bus lacking rear lights and being driven badly was also raised.
@Modern_Coast bus KCF614U is being driven badly & has no rear lighting. as the “ultimate leaders” sort that out..#SafetyFirst cc @Ma3Route
— @George Waweru (@Waweru_George) December 16, 2016
#kcf614u #ModernCoast pic.twitter.com/A0pHVyopMg
— KARANJA PHILIP (@karanja_philip) July 25, 2022
Meanwhile the National Transport and Safety Transport has suspended operations of Modern Coast Express limited.
In a statement, NTSA noted that the order applies to all the 31 vehicles belonging to the company.
@ntsa_kenya pic.twitter.com/sZmY2jAVcg
— NTSA KENYA (@ntsa_kenya) July 25, 2022
RELATED STORY:Modern Coast Bus Goes Up In Flames Along Chavakali-Kabsabet Road
