The bus driver of the ill-fated bus that caused the death of 15 people at Twins Bridge, Mau Summit along the Nakuru-Eldoret Highway has been charged.
The charges against Clement Kiarie, 34 range from causing death, reckless driving using the wrong lane and using the wrong policy cover.
He denied all the charges when he appeared before Molo Senior Resident Magistrates, Daisy Mose and was released on a Sh1 million bond with two sureties of a similar amount.
Kiarie was charged that on January 9 at Twins Bridge along The Great North Road, he drove the bus in a manner that was dangerous to the public causing the deaths of 15 people who were in a 14-seater matatu.
All 15 deaths were read out as separate charges complete with the names and ages of the victims who were between 2 years old and 34 years old .
He was also charged with contravening the use of insurance against third-party cover by carrying 44 passengers with a commercial insurance policy instead of a Public Service Insurance cover.
The last charge stated that on January 9 at Twins Bridge along the Nakuru-Eldoret road, Kiarie recklessly drove the bus and switched to the opposite lane causing a head-on collision with the on-coming 14-seater matatu killing all the passengers and the driver.
The prosecution did not oppose his release on bail and bond but asked the court to be stringent considering the number of people who perished in the accident.
“The bus, had a foreign registration number and it belongs to a Ugandan company, it would therefore be difficult to trace the driver,” said the prosecutor.
He asked the court to also consider that the driver went into hiding immediately after the accident and was only arrested Wednesday at an undisclosed location before being arraigned Thursday.
The Magistrate scheduled the matter for pre-trial mention on January 29 and asked the prosecution to submit the case documents to the suspect within this period.
She ordered that the driver be taken for treatment saying the he was visibly injured and in pain.
The driver was arrested on Wednesday after going missing following the Monday accident.
The accident occurred around 2:45 am at the Twin Bridge area, involving a collision between a bus from Classic Kings of Congo and a North Ways Shuttle Toyota matatu.
According to police, 38 others escaped unhurt in the crash.
Police confirmed that all occupants of the matatu lost their lives
Three bus passengers sustained serious injuries, with ten others experiencing minor injuries.
Police from Mau Summit responded promptly, assisting in transferring the injured individuals to Molo Hospital.
