Some 40 students and five teachers of Chekomos Secondary School in West Pokot County narrowly escaped death after their school bus was swept away by raging floods at Lyon River.
Heavy downpour hit the area after four months of drought.
Principal Dickson Wamocho said the group was heading to school from Makutano town and was crossing the river when the bus got stuck.
The passengers alighted and helped push it but the water level rose, forcing them to abandon the bus. No one was hurt in the Tuesday incident.
“They abandoned the bus and decided to walk to school. We could not help anymore,” the principal said.
“The school manager found a tractor and tried to use it to pull the bus out of the river on Wednesday morning but it was not possible.”
When they returned to the site on Thursday morning to try to pull the bus out of the river again, they found that it had been swept further away and was heavily damaged.
“We are trying our level best to remove the bus but we are worried about the continued rains pounding the area. The bus might be swept further and damaged. I was hurt while trying to escape from the floods as we tried to retrieve the bus,” he said.
The incident happened as the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) called on families living in dangerous zones in the county to move to safer ground.
“With the area being in a landslide-prone region, there is a need to warn the locals in advance to avert any casualties,” said KRCS West Pokot coordinator Scollar Kapelo.
Last year, more than 50 people died and more than 1,500 were displaced in the Chesegon area following flash floods and landslides. Property of unknown value was destroyed.
In 2019, more than 20 people died and thousands were displaced in the villages of Muino, Nyarkulian and Parua in landslides and heavy floods.
Ms Kapelo urged residents to move to safer ground as the rains continue.
“It is wise for people living in such areas to take precautionary measures by moving to safer grounds,” she said.
Kapenguria MP Samuel Moroto called on the government to set up footbridges and rehabilitate the Lyon River bridge.
The MP also cautioned road users against speeding in the hilly West Pokot with its meandering roads.
“In some places, bridges have been swept away and cut off by flooded rivers. Footbridges will save lives until permanent bridges are built. It is to enable the sick to reach hospitals and get drugs,” said Mr Moroto.
The MP said that hundreds of people and cattle drown during heavy downpours and travellers are stranded for days when rivers overflow.
He appealed to the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (Kerra) to consider erecting more guard rails on roads to avert more deaths.
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