Bus accident in Kenya leaves five Malayalees dead and several Indians injured; toddler and eight-year-old girl among dead; detailed list

NAIROBI: A bus carrying an Indian group including family members who had gone on a family holiday from Qatar to Kenya lost control and fell 100 meters below the ground. Six people, including five Malayalis, died. The deceased Malayalis are two girls aged one and a half and eight years old and three women. The sixth deceased has not been identified.

26 people were injured. There were 32 people on the bus, including three tourist guides and the driver. Of these, 14 are Malayalis. The rest are from Karnataka and Goa.

The accident occurred at 4 pm local time on Monday in Gichaka village, along the Nakuru-Ol-Joro Orok road in Nyandarua, northeastern Kenya. The bus lost control and overturned due to heavy rain.

The deceased were identified as Jesna (29), daughter of Makkar, a native of Pezhakkappilly, Muvattupuzha, and her daughter Roohi Mehrin (one and a half); Riya Ann (41), daughter of Puthanpurayil Radhakrishnan, a native of Kanjirampara, Mannur, Palakkad, and her daughter Tyra (eight); and Geetha Shoji Isaac (58), a resident of Palarivattom, Kochi who is a native of Vallakadavu, Thiruvananthapuram. Jesna's husband, Muhammed Haneefa, a native of Venkitangu, Thrissur, and Riya's husband, Joel, and son, Travis, were among the injured. They were admitted to Nairobi and Aga Khan hospitals.

Joel is an employee of an airport maintenance company in Qatar and the excursion was organized by his travel company. The deceased Riya and her family had been in Qatar for six years. Riya is one of the twins of Puthanpurayil Radhakrishnan and Shanthi. Twin sister: Shia. Brother: Rishi.

The Malayalis, who are living in Qatar with their families, had gone to Kenya for the Eid al-Adha holiday. The accident occurred while they were travelling from Nakuru to a resort in Nyahururu. They had planned to stay at the resort in Nyahururu on Monday night. The accident occurred when they were about to return to Qatar yesterday after the holiday in Kenya.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the loss of the Malayalis. The Chief Minister also informed that members of the Loka Kerala Sabha have intervened through Norka Roots. Efforts have been made to bring the bodies back home. As soon as the accident was reported, former members of the Loka Kerala Sabha in Kenya, G.P. Rajmohan and Sajith Shankar, and members of the Kerala Association of Kenya, reached the spot.

Help desk numbers of the Norka Global Contact Centre: 18004253939 (toll free number, from India)

+918802012345 (missed call, from abroad)

Bus toppled several times

The bus lost control while trying to turn a sharp bend in the rain. The bus toppled several times and fell into the ravine. The roof of the bus collapsed. Kenyan media reports that the bus overturned in a potato field below.