NAIROBI, Kenya — Two buses collided on a bridge along Kenya's Indian Ocean coast and plunged into a rain-swollen river, killing at least 14 people and injuring 28, police and hospital officials said Monday. Dozens of people remain missing.
The buses were traveling on a bridge north of the tourist town of Malindi at sunset Sunday when one of them slowed down to overtake a tourist van parked on the bridge, police spokesman Dola Indidis said.
It was struck in the rear by the second bus and both broke through the guardrail, plunging into the crocodile-infested Sabaki River, he said.
Speaking by telephone from the scene, Dr. Anisa Omar, the chief medical officer at Malindi District Hospital, said 14 bodies had been pulled from the river.
Police and hospital officials said 28 people were hospitalized, three of them, including the driver and assistant of one bus, were in critical condition.
Emmanuel Muachati, an official in Coast Province where the accident took place, said he didn't think any more survivors would be found but added that he did not know how many people were on the buses.
The buses involved in the accident are allowed to carry about 30 people each, but buses in Kenya are notoriously overcrowded.
Police and navy divers were trying to pull the buses from the water with the help of a crane, police inspector David Nzauka said.
"The buses are stuck in the sand and only about six inches of them can be seen above the water," Nzauka said.
Due to seasonal rains, the Sabaki River, 60 miles north of Mombasa, is running faster than normal. The bridge is located just 1,600 feet from where the river empties into the Indian Ocean and police fear bodies may have been swept out to sea.