18 Jan 2013

Kenya crash bodies on way back to NZ

2:27 pm on 18 January 2013

The bodies of three New Zealanders who died in a minivan accident in Kenya on Tuesday are on their way home.

A minivan carrying volunteers from Tauranga-based Bethlehem College rolled into a ditch in heavy rain while travelling from the port city of Kisumu to the small village of Mahanga on Tuesday.

The crash killed Brian and Grace Johnston, who have children at the school, Caitlin Dickson, 19, a former pupil and their Kenyan driver Christopher Mmata.

Bethlehem College principal Eoin Crosbie said 12 students and staff who were admitted to hospital or received medical treatment in Kisumu have been taken to a hospital in Nairobi.

Four others from the group are travelling to Nairobi with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Mr Crosbie said the plans are for as many as can be medically cleared to return to New Zealand as soon as possible.