Several people have been feared dead following an accident involving a Modern Coast bus at a notorious blackspot along the Meru-Nairobi Highway.

The carnage happened after the Mombasa-bound bus, on Sunday, July 24, veered off the Nithi Bridge after the driver lost control of the 57-seater PSV.

It then rolled severally downhill before stopping beside the Nithi River.

Images show that the bus was reduced to a mangled wreck, with its top part completely ripped off.

Several bodies have been spotted on the bus, in the river and along the river bank. Preliminary investigations point to brake failure as the cause of the crash.

Police officers have since taken charge of the scene and control traffic that has built up along the stretch of the road.

Responders, including a section of motorists plying the route, launched a rescue mission to pull out survivors from the wreck. A team from the Tharaka Nithi County Fire and Rescue team has also been deployed to the scene.

has also been deployed with survivors being rushed to PCEA Chogoria Mission Hospital and the Chuka County Referral Hospital.

Statistics by NTSA released in June 2022 indicated that 1,912 people died in road carnages since January, with reckless driving established as the cause of majority of the accidents.

The authority further expressed fears over the increase in the number of accidents as compared to 2021 attributing it to recklessness driving and failure to adhere to road signs.

Several people have lost their lives along the bridge, which locals have claimed on the road’s winding nature along the stretch.

In June, an accident claimed the life of one passenger while 13 others were injured after a 14-seater matatu plunged into the Nithi bridge. 

Last year five others died on the same spot after a lorry collided with a matatu in the deadly black spot.