SHEPPEY CROSSING CRASH: CALLS FOR SPEED RESTRICTIONS...

There are calls for lighting and speed restrictions on a bridge in Kent where 130 vehicles were involved in a series of crashes in thick fog.

Eight people have serious injuries and a further 35 also needed hospital treatment following the pile-up on the Sheppey crossing on Thursday.

David Bizley from the RAC said: "It was a miracle that nobody was killed."

The A249 bridge was closed for nine hours while the wreckage was cleared. It partially reopened at 17:30 BST.

Some reports said the series of crashes went on for 10 minutes.

Those involved in the collisions described a mass of tangled cars, lorries and vans.

Warning signs

Mr Bizley said improvements in car design had helped protect occupants.

Edmund King from the AA said: "As a minimum we would like to see matrix warning signs either side of the bridge, so if there is severe weather it can advise that people should slow down.

"There's a good case here for reducing the speed, particularly when there's bad weather."

Councillor Ken Pugh from Swale Borough Council said he had been campaigning for lighting and speed restrictions since the bridge was opened in 2006.

"If the bridge had been lit properly and speed signs had come up, perhaps the tragedy would not have happened," he said.

No hard shoulder

The £100m four-lane crossing connects the Isle of Sheppey with mainland Kent.

It is three-quarters of a mile (1.25km) long and rises to 115ft (35m) at its highest point.

In 2006 the then Chief Constable of Kent, Mike Fuller, said there were "significant concerns" over the safety of the bridge.

They included no emergency telephones, lighting, or hard shoulder.

Mr Fuller also called for a speed limit reduction on the bridge - it is currently the national limit of 70mph.

TWO HUNDRED PEOPLE HAVE BEEN INJURED AS MORE THAN 100 VEHICLES WERE INVOLVED IN A SERIES OF CRASHES IN THICK FOG ON THE A249 SHEPPEY CROSSING IN KENT...

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Witnesses described “horrendous scenes” with cars under lorries and people on the floor

Six of those hurt in the collisions, at about 07:15 BST, are thought to have serious injuries.

Early reports suggested up to 40 vehicles were involved, but police later said more than 100 had crashed.

Firefighters said they had freed five people from their vehicles on the southbound carriageway.

About 200 people have minor injuries.

One witness said visibility was very poor but drivers were approaching the crossing with no lights.

Driver Martin Stammers said the scene was “horrendous” and described seeing cars under lorries and people lying on thefloor.

He said visibility was about 10 to 20 yards when he approached the bridge and saw five cars smashed into each other with one across the outside lane.

He managed to squeeze through a gap between that car and the central reservation, he said.

“For 10 minutes afterwards, all we could hear was screeching, cars thudding into each other, lorries crashing,” he added.

He said he and his son ran to warn other drivers and warn cars to slow down.

“Later, a woman came up to us sobbing saying ‘thank you, thank you, you saved my life’,” he said.

Ch Insp Andy Reeves said the crash was over a “protracted area” with undamaged vehicles between others which had collided.

He said there were a number of injuries but no-one had died.

Several people, who were still in their vehicles, may have sufferedserious injuries, he added.
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KENYA SETS ASIDE SH2 MILLION FOR NTULELE BUS CRASH VICTIMS BURIAL....

NAIROBI, KENYA: State has agreed to foot burial expenses of the 41 accident victims who perished at Ntulele last week after a city to city bus crashed in the area along Nairobi-Narok highway.

The wreckage of the “City to City”€™ bus that crashed in Ntulele, Narok County, on Wednesday night. PHOTO:BONIFACE THUKU/STANDARD

The government on Wednesday announced that it will purchase coffins and transport bodies of the deceased to their resting places.

Homabay women representatives Gladys Wanga confirmed to Standard that the government through the Homabay County Commissioner has allocated Sh2 million for the expenses.

“I am happy to report that the government through the county commissioner has given out Sh 2 million towards meeting the expenses of the funeral,” Ms Wanga said.

The legislator said the amount will help in buying coffins and meeting transport costs to the victims’ homes.

She said by Wednesday, 30 out of the 41 victims’ homes have been traced with most of the bodies moved to Homabay from Narok, adding that only three are still in Narok.

“Majority of the dead were from our county and we have traced their relatives whom we are working with to agree on the burial programmes,” Ms Wanga who has been coordinating the events in Homabay said.

The ODM legislator said local leaders and the families of the deceased were currently consulting with a view of planning a join requiem mass for the victims.

The 41 perished on Thursday last week, when the City to City bus was involved in the fatal accident in Ntulele, near Narok. Majority of the dead were headed to the lakeside couth of Homabay.

Already the owner of the bus and the driver have been charged in court for operating a bus that did not comply with TLB rules.

The accident only came a month after 13 students from various secondary schools in Kisii County died in a grisly accident which was blamed in overloading and driving at night.

BUS DRIVER CHARGED OVER DEATH OF 42 PEOPLE IN NAROK ACCIDENT....

Steve Mutia, the driver of the ill fated bus that killed 42 people at Ntulele, Narok

The driver of the bus that crashed in Ntulele on the Mai Mahiu-Narok road killing 42 passengers has been charged before a Narok court with causing death by dangerous driving.

Mr Steve Mutia who surrendered to the police in Nairobi on Tuesday Morning was charged with 42 counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

The suspect who went missing after the accident of the City to City company bus last Thursday was also charged with driving unroadworthy public service vehicle.

He was also charged with driving a vehicle not fitted with a speed governors, leaking left shock absorbers, driving a vehicle without safety belt buckles, missing two right rear wheels and worn out tyres.

He is also charged with driving without an inspections sticker contrary to Traffic Act.

Mr Mutia who was unrepresented denied the 43 counts and was ordered to deposit Sh1 million bond with a surety of a the same amount or deposit a Sh500,000 cash bail.

BUS OWNER

Narok resident Magistrate Zainab Abdul ordered the driver to appear in court on September 18, 2013. The case will be heard on November 18 this year.

Mr Mutia went into hiding after the bus he was driving on August 29 veered off the road and rolled leaving 42 people dead and 44 others injured.

The accident occured at Ntulele on the Maai-Mahiu-Narok Road on Thursday after leaving Nairobi for Homa Bay.

He was charged two days after the owner of the ill-fated bus was also charged in the same court with operating defective vehicles.

Businessman Mohammed Sheikh was also charged with failing to keep a record of his drivers.

Mr Sheikh was charged alongside four other drivers of the bus company who were all accused of driving defective motor vehicles.