UGANDA BUS CRASH TRAGEDY

Two buses collided on a major road in northern Uganda on Wednesday morning, killing 46 people and injuring several others, police said, lowering the number of dead from 63.
The East African country has a deplorable road safety record, and bus or truck collisions along poorly maintained roads are commonplace.

The latest incident was on the Kampala-Gulu highway in Kiryandongo district just after midnight, when two buses "met head-on during the overtaking manoeuvres", police said in a statement on X.

One of the drivers swerved in an attempt to prevent an accident, but instead caused "a chain reaction" that sent at least four other cars, a truck and a land cruiser, "losing control and rolling over several times", the statement said.

In an initial police report, the death toll was put at 63 but was subsequently revised downwards to 46 fatalities, with the reason given: "When the crash happened, some of the victims were unconscious, and some may have been counted twice in the initial death toll."

The report said that officials were in close contact with emergency and health services, and additional announcements would be made as the situation permitted.

Videos and photos published by local media showed the tangled metal of two large buses illuminated by rescue spotlights.

The casualties had been taken to Kiryandongo Hospital and other nearby medical facilities, the statement said, but did not give further details on the number of the injured and the nature of their injuries.

President Yoweri Museveni conveyed condolences to the families of the deceased in the "tragic accident" and urged drivers to become more cautious.

Ugandan police have consistently urged drivers to become more cautious, but road accidents are common.

The 2024 crime report also documented a six percent increase in fatal crashes from the previous year, with 4,434 fatal accidents and 5,144 deaths.

In April this year, 10 people died in western Uganda after a bus lost control and overturned on a congested highway, and in August, about 20 traders perished after their truck overturned.

It was only last year that 26 people died after a truck overturned, caught fire, and exploded on the same Kampala-Gulu highway.

21 people died and 49 others were injured in a bus crash on the Kenya-Uganda border in January last year, just days after a passenger bus crashed into a stationary truck, killing 16 people.