{"id":838376,"date":"2026-10-28T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=838376"},"modified":"2026-10-28T11:48:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T15:48:18","slug":"kenya-church-bus-crash-survivors-say-tired-driver-should-have-rested-before-trip-that-killed-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/838376","title":{"rendered":"Kenya church bus crash survivors say tired driver should have rested before trip that killed 24"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The overturned church bus at Kanga, past Mtito Andei on the Nairobi to Mombasa highway, October 25, 2026 (The Kenya Times via X)<\/em><\/p>\n

Survivors of Sunday's church bus crash on Kenya's Nairobi to Mombasa highway, which killed 24 people, say the driver was exhausted after more than 16 hours at the wheel without relief.<\/p>\n

The bus, which belonged to Power of the Word Church International in Mombasa, was carrying 52 people home from the burial of Bishop Isaiah Kiganane in Marakusi village, Kakamega County, in western Kenya. At about 7:45 AM on Sunday, October 25, it collided head-on with a cement truck at Kanga, just past Mtito Andei in Makueni County. Makueni County's chief officer for medical services, Alex Makau, said 19 people died at the scene and five more in hospital, and another 24 were injured, according to K24 Digital. Some outlets reported 25 on Monday; the official count is 24.<\/p>\n

Michael Mosala, a tour operator recovering from head and chest injuries at Makindu Sub-County Hospital, told the Daily Nation that the group had agreed to rest and travel back on Sunday morning, but some pastors on the bus insisted on leaving right after the funeral so they could lead Sunday services in Mombasa. "We had agreed to travel on Sunday morning. However, a team of pastors who were on the bus made a last-minute change," he said. His sister Angeline Saba, a niece of the late bishop who ran a shop in Ukunda, was among the dead. The Nation reported that the driver had driven for more than 16 hours from Lugari in Kakamega without a second driver, and Pastor Cosmas Nyangweso, another survivor, said fatigue may have played a part. Other survivors defended the driver, saying he had been careful.<\/p>\n

Bishop Zachariah Mwagandi of Glorious River Church International in Mombasa, who was on the bus, told the Daily Nation that the group left Kakamega at about 4 PM on Saturday and travelled through the night. They stopped for breakfast at Mtito Andei at around 7 AM, and the crash came about 15 minutes after they set off again. He said he had joked with the driver about the speed, and the driver told him he would not go above 70 kilometers per hour because of the speed cameras on the highway.<\/p>\n

Makueni County Commissioner Abdullahi Khalif said the driver had tried to overtake several vehicles before hitting the oncoming truck, Al Jazeera reported. The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) said its preliminary findings pointed to improper overtaking, though investigators have not given a final cause. Postmortem examinations found the victims died of multiple injuries and heavy bleeding, People Daily reported. At Makindu hospital, 20 patients were received, 10 were admitted and one was in intensive care on Monday.<\/p>\n

Rev Elijah Waini, secretary general of the Mombasa Pastors' Fellowship, which organized the trip, said four of the dead were pastors from different evangelical churches. Families began taking the bodies to Mombasa on Tuesday after the postmortems, TV47 reported, and Makueni County said it would waive hospital and mortuary bills for the victims, according to People Daily. Gilbert Madegwa, a truck driver who lost his wife, Joan Nyangweso, and their four-year-old son, Gift Mwashi Maunya, told the Nation the Government must urgently build a dual carriageway between Mombasa and Nairobi. Mombasa Deputy Governor Francis Thoya made the same call on Tuesday, in a video shared by @KenyanSays on X.<\/p>\n

The crash came three weeks after 17 Catholic pilgrims were killed on October 3 at Salama, on the same highway. One Kenyan user, @KDominicx64519, wrote on X that 42 people had died in road crashes in Makueni County alone in three weeks. President William Ruto sent condolences and ordered inspections of public service vehicles. Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir said the Government would step up enforcement against speeding and dangerous overtaking, strengthen training and checks for commercial drivers and expand its black spot program to fix high-risk sections of road. "We cannot continue treating road safety as business as usual," he said.<\/p>\n

The NTSA has asked that road crashes be declared a national disaster, so that resources and agencies can be mobilized together. Kenya recorded 5,009 road deaths in 2025 and 2,150 in the first half of 2026, according to NTSA figures reported by Kenyan media.<\/p>\n

The Nairobi to Mombasa road is part of the corridor that links Kenya's main port to the interior and to the border at Moyale.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h4>\n