On Saturday, a bus carrying more than 20 people to a wedding in Kenya was washed away by fast-flowing waves as it attempted to cross a flooded river.
As the driver attempted to manage the swelling waves, the yellow school bus hired to transport a church choir and other revellers to the ceremony in Kitui County keeled over and sank, causing screams from onlookers.
Some passengers on the afflicted bus were able to flee before the bus was quickly buried, and were rescued.
“We have this terrible, terrible accident that happened here this morning,” Kitui governor Charity Ngilu told reporters.
“The bodies that have already been retrieved right now are over 23. We have more bodies in the bus,” she said, adding that efforts to recover the corpses would resume on Sunday morning.
She stated that 12 individuals, including four children, had been rescued.
The number of passengers on the bus as it dipped into the Enziu River, roughly 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of Nairobi, is unknown.
Witnesses stated the driver had pulled over to cross the river and was nearing the opposite side when the bus was swept away by the raging currents.
Deputy President William Ruto was among those to extend his condolences, and also urged motorists to apply extra caution on the roads with many parts of Kenya experiencing heavy rain.
