- Over 20 passengers were left with minor injuries and were treated and discharged during the 2 am accident near the Gilgil weighbridge.
There was a moment of anxiety along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway after a bus ferrying over 50 passengers was involved in an accident while evading ramming into a group of buffaloes.
More than 20 passengers were left with minor injuries and were treated and discharged during the 2 am accident near the Gilgil weighbridge.
The accident occurred after the bus which was heading to Western Kenya from Nairobi lost control as the driver veered to avoid hitting some buffaloes that were crossing the road.
This came as motorists and wildlife experts expressed their concern over the number of accidents caused by wild animals crossing the highway at night.
According to a passenger in the ill-fated bus John Osinde, the accident occurred after a herd of buffaloes crossed the road near the Gilgil weighbridge.
He praised the driver for saving their lives despite scores of the passengers escaping with minor cuts and bruises.
“The animals appeared suddenly from the bushes and the driver reacted fast and avoided ramming them though the bus crashed into the bushes,” he said.
According to James Kabono from the Naivasha Road Safety Group, the number of accidents involving wild animals has risen along the highway.
He attributed this to the fencing of wildlife corridors along the highway, a move that had blocked the animals from accessing water and pastures.
“The animals are now closing the highway at any point leading to an increase in the number of accidents, some of which are fatal,” he said.
The chairman of Friends of Lake Naivasha Francis Muthui said that tens of zebras, giraffes, antelopes, wildebeest and buffaloes had been displaced by the rising water of Lake Naivasha.
He noted that as a result, the animals had moved into the neighboring estates and highways in search of pastures leading to road accidents and fatal attacks.
“The only solution in relocating these animals towards Marula farm and Morendat area is to open all the fences on wildlife corridors and this will ease their movement,” he said.