[PHOTOS] Faces of 11 KU Students who died in grisly road accident

The identities of 11 Kenyatta University students who perished in a grisly road accident on Monday have been revealed.

The 11 were among a group of 58 others heading to Mombasa for an academic trip before their school bus collided with a trailer.

The accident took place in Maungu, Voi, Taita Taveta county, along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway.

The students were from the School of Public Health.

The trailer was heading to Nairobi at the time the accident occurred.

The 11 who died in the accident are Navile Omondi Opiyo, Beneas Otieno,  Hellen Mbula Kisilu, Michael Muteti, Vallary Akinyi Ouma and Oslo Mwendwa.

Others are Felix Gori Nyaata, Austine Omondi Owino, Rodger Kiprotich Rono, John Mbiriri Mureithi and Patricia Murugi Mwangi.

The bodies of the 11 were transported to Kenyatta University Hospital Morgue where they are preserved awaiting burial processes.

In a statement dated March 19, the University Chancellor Paul Wainanina said some of the critically injured students were evacuated to Nairobi after an assessment of their health status. 

Avenue Hospital confirmed that most of the students who survived the accident and were rushed to the facility for medication are in stable condition.

Avenue Hospital manager Dr Said Mohammed said they received 18 accident survivors whom health personnel stabilised.

“We are happy that 17 of the patients admitted here are in stable condition,” Mohammed said on Wednesday.

Only one accident victim is still in critical condition,  he said.

Of the 18 survivors at the hospital, 12 are female and six male students.

Principal Secretary for Higher Education and Research Dr Beatrice Inyangala visited them.

Inyangala wished the students a quick recovery and urged them to be courageous.

On March 19, the University suspended learning in honour of the 11 students who lost their lives.

KU Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics Waceke Wanjohi in a notice said learning will be suspended for three days during which they will mourn the departed souls.

"Following this unprecedented tragedy, the University Management has decided to suspend all classes for three days beginning Wednesday, March 20, 2024, to enable us to mourn our beloved students,"  Wanjohi said.

Wanjohi noted that the 11 students who died in the tragic road accident were from the Department of Health Management and Informatics in the School of Health Sciences.