Mtito Andei Bus-Truck Crash, Kenya: 24 Dead (22 First Reported) as Church Bus Hits Truck; Cause Under Investigation

What happened

On Sunday, 25 October 2026, a bus carrying members of a Mombasa church collided head-on with a truck at Kanga, on the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway in Makueni County, Kenya. Kanga is about 10 km east of the town of Mtito Andei, according to Capital FM. The bus belonged to Power of the Word Church International and was bringing mourners home from their pastor’s funeral in western Kenya. One survivor told the Associated Press that they had stopped for breakfast shortly before the crash. Police said the bus carried 45 passengers. The other vehicle was a truck, described by AP as carrying cement. Reports give the time as about 7 am (People Daily) or about 7:45 am (AP, Capital FM). Updated 26 October 2026.

How many died and how many were hurt

The toll rose through the day and the reports do not agree, so we show the range. The first count, from the Standard, People Daily and Nation, was 22. Police, quoted by Capital FM, then gave 23 dead: 12 women, 10 men and one juvenile. President William Ruto’s statement also said 23. AP and Al Jazeera, citing police, reported at least 24, and by Sunday night People Daily said two more people had died in hospital to make 24. We found no report after Sunday night, so 24 is the highest figure we have seen. A YouTube video from a small channel gives 31; no news outlet we opened supports it, and we do not use it.

Even the split of the dead is unclear. The Makueni health chief officer told the Standard that 17 died on the spot and 5 in hospital (22 in all). People Daily first wrote 20 at the scene and 2 in hospital, and later a broadcast update of 17 at the scene and 7 at Mtito Andei Sub-County Hospital. The injured are counted as 16 (People Daily), 24 (hospital officials, via AP) and 25 (police, via Capital FM), with some in a critical condition. Survivors were taken to Mtito Andei Sub-County Hospital, Makindu Sub-County Hospital and Kambu Level 4 Hospital, and a county health official said four patients were referred to Coast General Hospital in Mombasa. We do not name the dead or the injured.

What was the cause

No cause has been established. The police and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) are investigating together. These are the accounts, with who said them.

• The bus was overtaking. Makueni County Commissioner Abdullahi Khalif told the Standard that the bus driver tried to overtake several vehicles, swayed off the road to the right and hit the truck head-on; the truck, he said, was also trying to avoid the collision. People Daily quotes him as saying the driver lost control, skidded off the road and the bus landed on its right side on the opposite carriageway, with about half of the roof ripped off.
• NTSA’s preliminary view. In its Sunday statement NTSA said preliminary reports indicate a head-on collision and that improper overtaking may have contributed. It did not say it was the cause.
• A survivor’s different account. Another survivor told AP that the truck struck the bus from behind. This does not match the commissioner’s account, and nobody has confirmed either version.

We do not know who was driving the bus, or whether the driver survived. We found no report that either driver has been arrested or charged.

A highway with a record

This is the second mass-casualty crash on this highway in under a month. On 3 October 2026 a multi-vehicle crash at Salama, also in Makueni County, killed 17 people, most of them Catholic pilgrims; police said a lorry driver had tried to overtake another truck (Nation, AP). The Nation counted 41 deaths in three crashes on the highway since 23 September. NTSA had already marked the Kanga stretch as an accident black spot, according to the Nation, and the paper notes the risk is greatest where the road narrows from dual to single carriageway. The Nation also quotes NTSA national figures: 3,995 road deaths from 1 January to 4 October 2026, against 3,657 in the same period of 2025, a rise of 9.2%. AP, quoting NTSA reports in Kenyan media, gives 5,009 road deaths in 2025.

Response

President Ruto sent condolences and ordered thorough inspections of public service vehicles. Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir said the government would step up enforcement against speeding and reckless overtaking, improve dangerous road sections, and strengthen training and oversight of commercial and public-service drivers. His ministry also plans to talk to Parliament and the Judiciary about enforcing the Commercial Vehicle Regulations 2026 and the Vehicle Inspection Regulations 2026. NTSA called for road crashes to be declared a national disaster so that funding and enforcement can be coordinated; whether the government will do so is not known. The bus was held at a police station in Makueni County, according to AP.

Our lessons for Indian readers

These are our own reading of the Kenya case, not findings from the investigation, and we do not claim the Indian situation is identical. The pattern, though, will be familiar on any Indian two-lane highway: a long fleet of vehicles, a driver who pulls out to pass, and an oncoming heavy vehicle. We have covered similar head-on crashes in Morogoro, Tanzania and at Periyapatna, Karnataka, and the Natore crash in Bangladesh. Our note on long-distance bus crashes sets out the wider picture.

• Overtaking is a decision for a clear, long, straight road, not for a crowd of vehicles. If the driver of your bus keeps pulling out to pass a line of trucks, that is the moment to speak. Our passenger’s guide shows how to say it and when to get off.
• Wear the seat belt if one is fitted. In a head-on collision the front of the bus takes the impact first, so the front rows are the most exposed.
• A hired bus for a funeral, pilgrimage or wedding is no safer for being hired. Ask for a rested second driver on a long trip, an early start rather than a night run, and proper rest stops. Do not accept a driver who has been awake all night.
• Operators and organisers: a group booking is a duty of care. Agree the speed with the driver beforehand, and check the vehicle’s fitness papers.
• If you reach a crash first, call 112, keep other traffic away, do not move someone with a neck or back injury unless there is fire or another immediate danger, and follow our witness guide.

If you travel in Kenya

Check the local emergency number when you arrive and save it with the contact of your host or tour operator. For India, our state-wise helpline list has the numbers.

What is still not known

We do not know the cause: whether the bus was overtaking, whether the truck was also out of its lane, or whether the truck struck the bus from behind as one survivor said. We do not know the final number of dead (22 to 24 in the reports we read), the final injured count, the condition of the critical patients, who was driving, or whether anyone will be charged. We do not know whether road crashes will be declared a national disaster. The toll could change if a patient dies. We will update this page when the police, NTSA or the courts publish a finding. Last checked 26 October 2026.