Fifty-one passengers were rescued after the bus they were traveling in was swept away by floodwaters on a river bridge in northern Kenya, authorities said Tuesday.
Tana River county commander Ali Ndiema said the road has now been closed indefinitely. He said anyone found violating the order will be arrested and charged.
He said all passengers are accounted-for. Police are looking for the driver of the bus who ignored passengers’ concerns and insisted on driving through the water. Some of the passengers managed to escape just before the bus was submerged, while others climbed onto the roof.
The incident happened just hours after Kenya’s roads agency announced the closure of another section of the same road that was flooded after the Tana River swelled due to continuing heavy rains.The government had on Monday issued a flood alert to residents of Tana River and Lamu counties after a dam upstream was breached by flooding.
