NTSA arrests crew that stuffed 133 pupils into a 41-seater matatu – VIDEO
A viral video that showed 133 pupils alighting from a matatu has taken the internet by storm and raised concern on safety standards of vehicles hired for school trips
National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) have detained the 41-seater mini-bus matatu that was ferrying primary school children to the Agricultural Show in Machakos town last week.
The driver had insisted that he only had 60 children on board, prompting a quick head count of the passengers.
The pupils were ordered to alight one by one from the vehicle by NTSA officials to ascertain the total number of those on board.
In the video that captured part of the head count, the face painted children – some who were too young to jump out of the matatu unaided – over 100 children alighted from the vehicle.
NTSA officials can be heard in the background tallying the total count. Those on board were 133 pupils and seven teachers.
NTSA safety director John Muya told Nairobi News that the authority has since written to the school and copied the Ministry of Education seeking an explanation as to why the pupils were ferried in such a reckless manner.
“The driver of the matatu was arrested by the traffic officers and is expected to be arraigned in court, while the license of the vehicle has been suspended and the Umowa Sacco is supposed to explain why the incident occurred,” he told Nairobi News.