KITUI, Kenya, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Nine school children were killed and 31 others injured in a road accident in Kitui county of eastern Kenya on Saturday night, police confirmed on Sunday.
The students from the St. Gabriel Primary School in Mwingi town were traveling from the coastal city of Mombasa where they had gone for a trip when their bus was involved in a head-on collision at a bridge on the Thika-Garissa Road at around midnight.
Mwingi divisional police commander John Nyamu told reporters at the scene that eight students were killed on the spot while another one succumbed to injuries as she was being rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital.
The nine students were among 50 passengers, including their teachers.
Nyamu said the driver was overspeeding and overtaking before the bus hit a truck head-on. After the collision, the bus lost control and plunged into the Kanginga river bed.
"This driver was overtaking and by the time he realized there was a lorry, it was too late," said the police commander.
He said they have arrested the driver of the truck and is set to be arraigned in court of Monday, adding that they could be a possible DNA test carried to ascertain the bodies which are badly mutilated.
Meanwhile, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent a message of condolence to the families of the nine students.
