At least 51 passengers narrowly escaped death after a bus they were traveling in was swept by raging floods at Lager Areli area along the Nairobi-Garissa highway.
Police and witnesses said 51 passengers on board the Nairobi-bound bus narrowly escaped death.
Tana River County Police Commander Ali Ndiema said the 51 people on board the Umma Express bus were travelling from Garissa to Nairobi on Monday at 11:30pm when the bus was swept away by floods.
Ndiema said the driver of the bus dared to cross the flooded section against the advice of other drivers and passengers only for the bus to be swept away by the heavy waters 50 metres off the road.
Some of the passengers jumped off the bus unhurt after it got stuck in the water.
Others remained on the rooftop of the bus waiting to be rescued.
A team from military and Kenya Red Cross rushed to the rescue of those trapped.
“We are hoping to rescue all those trapped. We have experts on the ground and most of the victims have so far been rescued,” said Ndiema.
Police called on drivers plying the Garissa-Nairobi route to be alert and avoid driving on flooded sections to avoid killing their passengers.
The Kenya National Highways Authority has since issued a warning to commuters along the Garissa-Nairobi highway (A3) due to flooding in the Mororo area between Madogo and the Tana River Bridge.
According to KeNHA, the flooding has affected one lane of the road, posing a high safety risk to road users.
Other roads currently being monitored by KeNHA include the Garissa-Mombasa highway at Bilbil and Charidende in Tana River County, which were washed away by the El Niño floods.
Reports indicate that all the passengers have been evacuated but the bus is still stuck.
The meteorological department has warned most places will experience heavy rains in the coming months.
This means most places will be flooded and calls for caution.
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