Survivors of the tragic Karai road crash along the Nakuru highway have shared harrowing accounts of the moments leading up to the early morning accident, alleging that the bus driver was speeding recklessly.

While receiving treatment at Naivasha Sub-County Hospital, the survivors, who were aboard the bus, said that the driver ignored repeated warnings from passengers, which they say contributed directly to the crash.

They claim that the bus driver was speeding along the busy highway, despite pleas from passengers to regulate the vehicle’s speed. 

“The driver was overspeeding. We tried talking to him, but he would not listen.  From the start of the journey, he was frequently speeding,” Doreen Makena, a mother of three, told the press on Monday, January 5, 2026.

Her daughter, with a broken leg, is among the 55 patients who were hospitalised at the facility.

Further, the passengers claim the driver appeared sleepy for a greater part of the journey before the accident took place.

Despite calls to have the driver substituted for a different one, the passengers claim the bus conductor snubbed their requests. They say that the driver seemed tired and sleepy on the way to Nairobi, prompting the passengers to ask the bus conductor to try keeping the driver awake.

“Before we got to Naivasha, the driver appeared dizzy. I told the conductor to tell him to stop at Naivasha and wash his face with water,” Dancun Kiru, another survivor, narrated.

The survivor claims that the driver appeared to have been overworked, urging the bus company to allocate two drivers for a bus, saying that it would prevent road accidents.

It was also claimed that the driver appeared disoriented, presumably because of the use of a stimulant to keep him awake during the journey. 

Moments before the accident, the survivors claimed that the bus was trying to avoid colliding with a Toyota Premio and ended up colliding with the Nissan. 

The survivor’s treatment

“When we got to the petrol station, we found a Premio coming out and our bus was at high speed; when the driver tried to avoid a collision and went to the other lane, where we met a Nissan, we had a head-on collision,” Peter Ngugi, another survivor, said.

The accident, which took place at around 2 am, occurred after the Greenline bus collided head-on with a Nanyuki Cabs shuttle.

Ten people have since been confirmed dead, with nine victims perishing on the scene. Eight of the deceased were from the shuttle, while one child aboard the ill-fated bus lost his life. The other passenger succumbed to injuries while receiving treatment. 

Some survivors have since been treated and discharged, while others in critical condition are under medical supervision at the facility.

“Most of them had minor injuries and were treated and discharged. So far we have two in theatre who are being attended to and we have two remaining here in casualty,” Benjamin Mwaura, Chief nurse, Naivasha Sub-County hospital said.