A total of 43 Nyamira students cheated death Sunday morning after the driver of their school bus lost control and rammed into a building at Senta Junction along the Oyugis-Sondu-Ahero Highway.

The students from St Joseph’s Kemasare Mixed (28) and Nyameru Secondary (16) were travelling in a Kemasare School bus alongside six teachers to Kisumu Girls High School where this year’s Nyanza Regional Schools Music Festivals were happening at around 6am when the vehicle lost control at the Senta Junction and rammed into a building at the roadside.

According to Kemasare Principal Thomas Nyakundi who was waiting for the team travelling on the bus to pick him near the scene of the accident, the bus was moving at a worrying speed a few seconds before it veered off the road and rammed the roadside shop.

“I was also to travel with the students to Kisumu and I had communicated with the driver to pick me at Senta. Strangely, the bus came at a high speed and just flew into the roadside structure,” Nyakundi narrated.

The driver of the vehicle was critically injured in the head and neck and is out of danger, according to Director of Healthcare Services Evans Oeba and the hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr Angela Ogendi.

Dr Oeba said of the 46 victims of the accident, 18 students and five teachers had been cleared as having not suffered any injuries while 25 were still being monitored after it was confirmed that they suffered varying degrees of injuries.

“Of those who were injured, five suffered maxillofacial injuries and were to undergo scans to ascertain the extent of their injuries,” Dr Oeba said.