Bus-truck crash kills 24 in Kenya, weeks after another accident on same highway

A bus collided with a truck on Kenya's main highway on Sunday, killing at least 24 people, police said.

The crash came three weeks after 17 people died in another accident along the same highway linking the capital, Nairobi, with the coastal city of Mombasa.

Some 24 others were injured in the Sunday morning crash and were receiving treatment, according to Paul Kisienya, the medical superintendent at Mtito Andei hospital that received most of those injured.

The passengers were returning to Mombasa after attending the funeral of their church pastor in western Kenya when the accident occurred.

A mother of two, Violet Mwandonyi, said the bus had just left Mtito Andei town, where the passengers had eaten breakfast.

"I cannot recall what exactly happened. The last thing I remember is that we were all wailing and calling on motorists to come to our rescue. I don't know the fate of my two children who were on the bus," she said.

The circumstances remain unclear but another passenger, Spenza Mudave said a truck hit the bus from behind, causing the bus to roll.

The National Transport Safety Authority had suspected that this was a case of "improper overtaking" due to the information gathered that the vehicles collided head-on.

The authority called for crashes to be declared a "national disaster."

"Road crashes have reached a national emergency level, with about 20,000 crashes claiming over 5,000 lives annually," the authority wrote in a statement.

President William Ruto send his condolences to the families of the deceased and ordered the inspection of all public service vehicles to ensure compliance to eliminate road accidents. He urged drivers "to exercise utmost caution and observe traffic rules to safeguard lives."

Speeding and poor road conditions have previously been cited as contributing factors in road accidents in Kenya.