At least 24 dead as bus plunges 131ft off bridge after brakes fail sending vehicle crashing into river valley in Kenya
AT least 24 people have been killed after a bus veered off a bridge and plunged into a river valley.
It's feared the vehicle's brakes failed - causing it to plummet 131ft into the steep ditch on Sunday evening in central Kenya.
The bus - owned by Modern Coast company - was travelling from Meru to the port city of Mombasa when it veered off the Nithi Bridge, the Daily Nation and Standard newspaper reports.
Senior police official Rono Bunei said the vehicle “must have developed brake failure, because it was at a very high speed when the accident happened".
County Commissioner Nobert Komora confimed that initial investigations showed the bus's brakes may have failed, Nation reports.
It's understood the fault may have stopped the driver from properly turning on a sharp bend at the bridge.
Read more world news
Komora said: "We are sadly announcing to the nation we have lost 24 people in a grisly Modern Coast Bus accident on the notorious Nithi River Bridge along the Meru - Nairobi highway."
Shocking pictures from the scene reveal the devastating aftermath of the smash, with the bus completely destroyed.
Emergency services were pictured grappling with the wreckage as horrified onlookers watched on from above.
It's unclear how many people were travelling on the bus at the time of the crash, but authorities have confirmed 24 deaths so far.
Most read in The Sun
Rescue efforts were suspended overnight, and it's feared the death toll could rise as people may have become trapped under the wreckage.
Police remained at the scene, however, until the operation resumed in the morning.
It's understood several people were rushed to hospital after being helped to safety by emergency crews.
The smash comes amid a spate of deadly crashes in the East African country.
On July 8, at least 20 people were killed in a crash along the highway from Nairobi to the coastal city of Mombasa.
Some 4,579 people died in road accidents in Kenya in 2021, a 15 per cent rise from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
