Eight pupils killed as school bus plunges into flooded gorge in Arusha

One child was initially confirmed dead with seven others missing as School Bus is swept by raging floods in Northern Tanzania.

However, latest reports have that a total of eight children have been confirmed dead.

At least three others were pulled out of the water filled wreckage shortly after the accident on Friday morning.

As it happened the school bus they were traveling in was swept by floods in Arusha City.

The Toyota Hiace Commuter Van, with registration T 496 EFK serving as school bus for the Ghati Memorial Academy, was dragged into a water filled gorge in the at a place called ‘Darajani Dampo,’ in the Engosheraton section of the city suburbs in the early morning of Friday, April 12, 2024.

Reports from eye witnesses say the vehicle was carrying 13 passengers, among them 11 pupils, their teacher and a driver. 

One child was confirmed dead on the spot. Three were been rescued, with seven others reported missing. The Police say they were still investigating the incident.

Speaking in Arusha, President Samia Suluhu sent condolences to the grieved families.

School management said they will issue a statement later.

The Member of Parliament for Arusha-Urban, Mrisho Mashaka Gambo said they had raised money for the construction of the bridge across the gorge which usually gets filled with water when it rains.

“But the management of the Tanzania Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO) have been preventing the bridge construction here, without providing any plausible explanation,” said MP Gambo.

Efforts to contact the TANESCO management here proved futile as they were not in office and didn’t pick phones.

The driver of the school bus tried to escape shortly after the accident which occured some 12 kilometers from the city center. But nearby people managed to chase after him and he was caught but couldn’t speak as he seemed confused.

He was apparently driving the children from their various homes to Ghati Memorial School on Friday Morning.

But upon reaching a road section which was covered with gushing currency of water, the driver calculated that he would be able to cross it with the car, against all odds.

So he drove the van onto the crossing section without realizing that parts of the road were eroded by the rains that pounded Engosheraton parts of Engosengiu Ward all night long.

The front wheels were first to be dragged into the waters and eventually the entire vehicle fell into the valley

The van was washed away before being caught at the edge of the footbridge further downstream which prevented the bus from being swept away entirely.

It is suspected that as the innocent children tried to escape from the bus shell, water swept some of them downstream.

Some people in the area who witnessed the incident rushed to the rescue of the remaining cherubs.