BUDAKA: Six people have been confirmed dead following a terrible accident that occurred at Mailo tano, Mbale-Tirinyi road in Budaka District on Wednesday morning.
The accident involved three vehicles – a Raum, Reg no- UAT 995A, and two taxis – registration numbers UBH 437K and UBJ 676W.
Traffic police spokesperson Faridah Nampiima identified the deceased as Mulabi David, Namarome Fatima, Nambafu Kurusum, Kafero isaka, and a yet to be unidentified male adult.
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Nandigobe sustained serious injuries while two others survived the accident.
Nampiima attributed the accident to over speeding by the taxi, registration number UBJ 676W.
She said the drivers of both Toyota hiaces are on the run, and efforts are underway to have them arrested.
“We want to caution all road users to be disciplined while on the road, most of the accidents are as a result of human errors that are avoidable once we drive carefully and responsibly,” she said.
This came hours before 20 people were confirmed dead after a Kampala-bound bus overturned on the Fort Portal-Kyenjojo road.
The bus, registration number UBA 003S, was traveling from Fort Portal when the accident occurred at Ssebitoli in Kabarole District at around 10am.
The deceased’s bodies were also transported to hospitals for postmortem examination.
“A detailed traffic investigation report will be shared later,” said traffic police spokesperson Faridah Nampiima.
Police say since the beginning of this year, they have registered over 2,000 road crash incidents, killing at least 250 while thousands have escaped with life-altering injuries nationwide.
According to the Road Safety Performance Review Report for Uganda which was published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in 2018, at least ten people die on Uganda’s roads every day.
In December, last year, the Deputy Director, Traffic and Road Safety in the Uganda Police, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Phillip Acaye, told participants during the launch of the annual Road Safety Week that over the last five years, at least 3,500 people have died on Ugandan roads every year, while close to 10,000 have narrowly escaped with severe injuries.
Even in 2020— a year which saw the economy shut down for at least four months to contain the COVID-19 pandemic— 3,633 people were killed in road crashes in Uganda. That figure saw an increase from the one posted in 2018 and 2019 when at least 3,194 and 3,407 people respectively were killed in road crashes, according to police data.
