Kenya bus crash kills at least 24 as government vows road safety crackdown

Notably, a bus carrying mourners has collided with a truck on a major highway in southeastern Kenya, killing at least 24 individuals, police say.

Key points

• The bus belonged to Power of the Word Church International in Mombasa and was taking passengers home from their pastor's funeral in western Kenya.
• The authority estimates that regarding 20, 000 crashes occur throughout Kenya each year.
• Violet Mwandonyi, who survived the crash, informed the Associated Press on Sunday that she remembered passengers crying out for passing motorists to assist.
• Kenya's National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) additionally identified dangerous overtaking as a feasible cause.
• President William Ruto offered condolences on Sunday and ordered inspections of vehicles applied for public transport.

In practice, the crash happened in the Kanga area near Mtito Andei, on the road linking the capital, Nairobi, to the coastal city of Mombasa, at regarding 7: 45am (04: 45 GMT) on Sunday, October 25. Another 24 individuals were injured, hospital office-holders noted.

Meanwhile, the deaths came just over three weeks after another crash on the highway killed 17 individuals, prompting fresh administration promises to improve road safety.

For context, the bus belonged to Power of the Word Church International in Mombasa and was taking passengers home from their pastor's funeral in western Kenya.

They had halted for breakfast shortly before the collision, according to one survivor. The other vehicle was a truck transporting cement.

She remarked she did not know what had happened to her two children. This person had been travelling on the bus. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Makueni County Commissioner Abdullahi Khalif, the government's senior administrator in the area, informed Kenyan newspaper The Standard that the bus driver had tried to overtake a number of vehicles before colliding with an oncoming truck.

Kenya's National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) additionally identified dangerous overtaking as a feasible cause. Another survivor remarked the truck struck the bus from behind.

On October 3, a crash involving a number of vehicles killed 17 residents, most of them Catholic pilgrims travelling to a prayer site, near Salama on the same highway.

Police remarked a truck driver had tried to overtake another truck before the collision.

For context, the NTSA had identified that stretch of road as an area with a history of crashes.

Transport Minister Davis Chirchir remarked the administration would step up enforcement against speeding and unsafe overtaking, improve dangerous sections of road and strengthen training and checks for commercial drivers.

In an official note on Sunday, Chirchir remarked the administration would work with police, local authorities and lawmakers on the measures, including closer oversight of buses and heavy goods vehicles.

"We cannot continue treating road safety as business as usual, " he remarked, calling for stronger action to reduce deaths.

Figures from the NTSA, documented by Kenyan media, show that 5, 009 residents died in road crashes in 2025, with 2, 150 deaths recorded in the first half of 2026.

Notably, the authority estimates that regarding 20, 000 crashes occur throughout Kenya each year.

After Sunday's collision, it called on road crashes to be declared a national disaster.

Taken together, the developments around kenya bus crash kills at least 24 as government vows road safety point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.