22 killed in road accident in Kenya

NAROK, Kenya — A bus driver swerved at a sharp corner and collided with another bus in southwest Kenya, killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens, police said Wednesday.

The buses collided late Tuesday at Ntulele, about 11 miles (17 kilometers) from the town of Narok, said Charles Owino Okweya, the Narok police chief. About 51 passengers were hurt, many with serious injuries, he said.

Okweya said the buses were carrying passengers between Nairobi and Kisii, a major town some 165 miles (270 kilometers) west of the capital, Nairobi.

The Nairobi-bound bus rolled and landed on its side, making it difficult for rescuers reach passengers, he said.

“We tried to rescue passengers but because the bus was on its back, we couldn’t,” Okweya told The Associated Press.

Many roads in southwestern Kenya have sharp corners and steep inclines. The buses that carry passengers to and from major towns are known to exceed the speed limit in an effort to make more trips and more money.

Jared Ontweka, a janitor at a government ministry, survived the crash but had deep cuts on the face, both hands and chest. He was in a bed in a bloody, torn shirt at Narok District Hospital waiting to be treated.

“When the bus got hit, it felt like a bump but then the next thing I woke up here (in hospital),” Ontweka told The Associated Press.

Other injured passengers at the hospital were writhing and wailing in pain and too distraught to speak to journalists. Dr. Dixon Ongaki, the doctor in charge of the hospital, said they had cuts, fractures and soft tissue injuries.

(This version CORRECTS thruout that accident involved buses, not minivans)