10 people have been confirmed dead following a fatal accident involving 10 motor vehicles at Kibimbi after the bridge along the Iganga-Tororo highway in Bugiri District. The accident happened last night at around 07:50 pm.
According to the police, nine motor vehicles were all moving in the same direction towards Tororo, while one vehicle, registration number KAE 254c/ZA 5971, a tanker loaded with molasses, was travelling in the opposite direction towards Iganga.
“Motor vehicle registration number UAW 963m, a Toyota Hiace, attempted to overtake a queue of vehicles mentioned above. The driver noticed an oncoming vehicle while still overtaking and swerved to the left to yield, unaware that the oncoming vehicle was a trailer tanker loaded with molasses and pulling another trailer,” said the police.
The trailer collided with the taxi, crushing it against another trailer, KBJ 155c/ZD 2621, a Mercedes Benz.
“The trailer tanker lost control, overturned, and caught fire,” said the police.
10 people, including 8 passengers of the taxi, its driver, and the trailer tanker driver, lost their lives on the spot. The bodies were transported to Bugiri hospital mortuary for post-mortem examination.
According to the 2023 Traffic Police Report, 4,806 Ugandans lost their lives in road crashes in 2023. Of the total fatalities, pedestrians accounted for 1,675 deaths, motorcyclists 1,520, motorcycle passengers 614, vehicle passengers 324, and drivers 232. The report also indicated that over-speeding is the main cause of road accidents.