Student Survivors Recount Last Minutes Before Bandits Attack.
Tot High School students who survived an armed bandit attack painfully narrated their ordeal while receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
The students admitted to the Kapsowar Mission Hospital revealed that on Thursday, February 17, armed bandits ambushed their school bus as it was returning from an academic tour.
One student told the press that their bus was one of three school vehicles returning to their respective campuses after the tour.
They were startled to hear screams and see armed bandits emerge from the roadside. As the bandits opened fire, their school bus driver veered off the road.
As the gunmen sprayed bullets at the bus, twelve students and two teachers were injured. The bandits shot the driver, who died on the spot.
According to the students, their attempts to hide inside the bus were futile because the bandits were determined to catch them.
“It is a miracle that we survived. The gunmen first shot at our driver before spraying the rest of the bus with bullets. The shooting did not stop even after we ducked under the seats,” a student stated.
“They stopped shooting and fled when I pleaded with them in vernacular telling them we are their narratives.”
Patrick Lumumba, the Elgeyo Marakwet County Police Commander, stated that investigations had begun and that the bandits were being pursued.
Following the attack, Kipchumba Murkomen, the area senator, lamented the police’s inaction in dealing with the bandits in the area.
Also Read:
Following the senator’s remarks, CS Matiang’i ordered the immediate arrest of the principal of Tot Secondary School following the attack.
Matiang’i, speaking at an education stakeholders event in Nairobi on Friday, February 18, blamed the school principal for violating regulations that prohibited school buses from operating after 6:30 p.m.
