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KCF 614U: Kenyans had complained of killer Nithi bus since 2016

The Modern Coast accident bus

The Modern Coast bus which plunged 40 metres down the Nithi bridge in Tharaka Nithi County, killing 33 people.

Photo credit: Alex Njeru | Nation Media Group

The Modern Coast bus that has so far claimed 34 lives in an accident at the infamous Nithi bridge in Tharaka Nithi County is not new to controversy.

The company in a statement following the accident confirmed that its registration number is KCF 614U, the same bus that on numerous times has been driven carelessly on various roads prompting passengers to press authorities to remove it from the road.

The complaints dating as far back as 2016 range from it hitting a stationary truck along Mombasa-Malindi highway in December 2017 to getting involved in a fatal accident near Malindi airport in April 2017 and hooting loudly while in traffic and being on the road without backlights in December 2016.

In December 2016, a viral clip captured another Modern Coast bus overlapping and speeding downhill on the wrong lane at the infamous Nithi Bridge black spot, sparking an uproar that led to the firing of the driver.

The company also issued a public apology saying they had presented the driver to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) for cancellation of his license.

In 2017, over 15 people died in horrific multiple crashes at the notorious Sachangwan blackspot on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway following a series of collisions involving more than 13 vehicles including a Modern Coast, two trucks and a land cruiser that was headed to Kampala from Nairobi.

The accident that left tens others with critical injuries caused a major traffic snarl up on the busy highway.