By Gregory Musyoki
A woman, her three children and two grandchildren are among more than 20 people from Mwingi Catholic Church whose bodies have been recovered from the swollen River Enziu in Mwingi East, Kitui County where a bus they were travelling in plunged into.
The school bus, with capacity of 51 passengers, was carrying 70 choir members from Mwingi town towards Nuu area to attend a wedding ceremony.
According to eye witnesses, the driver of the bus waited for more than two hours before resolving to cross the already swollen River following heavy downpour when the bus was submerged and swept away.
Reports indicate that more than 10 people have so far been rescued by divers with rescue efforts including by Kenya Defence Forces soldiers ongoing.
It is said that the bus driver was under pressure from some of the passengers who demanded that he hurries up to ensure they were not late for the event.
The driver had insisted that he wasn’t familiar with the river and how to cross it but finally gave in to the demands and attempted to cross after two more vehicles successful crossed the bridge.
Kitui County police boss Ms Leah Kithei said efforts to rescue more people believed to have been trapped in the water were underway.
Governor Charity Ngilu condoled with the bereaved families saying “We pray for God’s strength and compassion to comfort the affected families and friends”.
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