President Paul Kagame has reached out to families with children injured in the Monday morning accident involving a school bus belonging to Path To Success International School, promising that the affected pupils will be accorded all the necessary care.
At least 25 school children and a bus driver were injured on Monday when the bus heading to the school located in Kigarama sector, Kicukiro district, lost control in the Rebero area and ended up downhill but luckily was stopped by trees.
The Head of State, through Twitter, said that he heard of the accident and sent words of comfort to parents and guardians and also promised that the government will take care of the treatment of the students.
“I learned about the school bus accident that happened in Rebero this morning. We wish all the children a speedy recovery and I want to comfort all the affected families.
. We will do everything we can to ensure that all the children involved are treated appropriately,” President Kagame tweeted.
Rwanda National Police (RNP) Traffic Department said that the cause of the accident is yet to be determined but it is suspected that the Toyota Coaster bus lost control going downhill from Rebero as schools reopened for the second term.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) René Irere, in charge of the Road Safety Department said that when the bus crossed the road and fell into the forest, 15 children and the driver were injured, but fortunately no one was killed. The number was later upgraded to 25.
The injured were taken to different hospitals in Kigali City. By press time, KT Press understood that six of the injured children were severely injured together with the bus driver, who tried to negotiate the roundabout in vain.
The RNP has recently cautioned drivers to drive safely and abide by traffic rules to avoid fatal accidents. A recent inspection done by RNP showed that a large number of school buses were not in a road worthy condition.