Uganda bus crash leaves 16 dead, scores injured
At least 16 people are said to have died and 21 others injured after a bus rammed into a stationary trailer at Adebe trading center along Kampala-Gulu highway on Friday morning.
“It's alleged that a bus registration number UAT 259P which belongs to Roblyn bus company was traveling from Kampala to Gulu ramped into a stationary trailer at around midnight of January 6, 2023 along Kampala-Gulu highway. The trailer was allegedly loading at Adebe trading center just one kilometer to corner Kamdini check point,” North Kyoga region police spokesperson, SP Patrick Jimmy Okema said.
According to him, 12 people died on the spot while four others died at Atapara Hospital where they had been rushed for treatment.
“Police traffic and general duty visited the scene immediately on receiving the report and confirmed 12 people died on spot while four others died from the hospital meaning so far a total of 15 dead bodies and yet to be identified number of survivors rushed to Atapara Hospital, some in critical condition for treatment,” SP Okema added in a Friday morning statement.
According to him, the dead bodies were conveyed to Anyeke Health IV pending postmortem.
“Cause of the accident is yet to be established but preliminary findings indicate wrong parking by the trailer driver with no warning signs. It's a very unfortunate incident, we call for calmness from members of the public, our condolences to the bereaved families,” he added.
Uganda has witnessed an increase in the number of road crash reports of late.
On Tuesday, the traffic police revealed that 104 road crashes were registered around the country between December 30, 2022 and January 1.
A statement released by the Traffic Police spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Faridah Nampiima, revealed that 28 of the accidents led to loss of lives.
“…49 were serious [accidents] and 27 were minor from December 30, 2022 to January 1. Out of 104 road crashes, we registered 149 victims, 35 died and 114 sustained serious injuries,” the statement read in part.
According to the statement, the biggest cause of the crashes was reckless driving where 20 fatal, 39 serious injuries and 17 minor accidents were registered.
Reckless driving accounted for two serious and 10 minor injuries and four people perished as a result of unknown causes while eight others sustained serious injuries.
According to the 2021 Annual Crime and Traffic/Road Safety Report, 4,159 road accident fatalities nationwide were recorded. Of these 1,390 involved motorcycle riders while 528 were passengers on motorcycles.
